


Kamen Rider Shine

by RubyTreasure



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Dropped - Freeform, Gen, Might be OOC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-22 21:58:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 37,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13773411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyTreasure/pseuds/RubyTreasure
Summary: One day, Chika leads You to a mysterious glowing crystal coming out of a wall. This light then ends up infecting You, giving her the disease and the crystal needed to turn into Kamen Rider Shine, a hero destined to fight the evils of Uchiura. But there's an organization whose chairwoman, Mari, wants to steal that crystal for herself. The adventure starts from here...





	1. Rising Sun, Glimmering Shine

**Author's Note:**

> ＊This idea is not entirely my own! Some of the main details were created by ZurArmex (on Twitter), and others were created by myself＊
> 
> •This fic is pretty much a LLSS fic with a Kamen Rider-ish storyline to it, it won't involve any sort of character crossovers and will only really include the core members of Aqours and Saint Snow (other characters may appear in supporting/minor roles)
> 
> •The story, transformations, etc. won't be 100% accurate to what's actually found in Kamen Rider, though they should be similar enough to make sense and hopefully be enjoyable to read
> 
> •This is a non-Aqours AU, but some relationships will stay intact as needed
> 
> •If you want to share constructive criticism/any thoughts in the comments, go ahead! I'd appreciate it a lot~

_"Zenzoku zenshin... Yousoro~!"_

She paused for a moment.

_"Kara no... keirei~!"_

A rich call to the morning sky came out from the cheerful You Watanabe. With her gleaming blue eyes and her glistening grey hair blowing in the warm wind as she was coming out of her house, You set off to find her childhood friend, Chika!

Left, right, left, right.

The cycle continued on as You ran to where Chika could be. It took a few minutes, but once she got to the exit of the school, she didn't know where else to look. The green of the grass, mild azure of the sky, and beam of the sun's rays rose to her eyes, she panicked and ran faster than she ever could have before to a more covered location.

"Where are you?"

Chika had told her to meet up by their new school's front entrance, but You didn't know the way there at all. She was one of You's childhood friends... she could always recall her quirky short bangs, gorgeous crimson eyes, and most of all, her vibrant orange hair. Sprinting with all her might in a square-like trail, yelling the whole way there, she got her way to the middle of the courtyard, where Chika found her standing by a blank, white wall.

After running up to her, Chika lovingly said to You, "Where were you, You-chan?? I couldn't find you anywhere until you finally came out, haha." and gave her a big, radiant smile.

"Eh? I couldn't find you at all... did you really think I could remember the way around this school?" You answered with an even bigger smirk, she was eagerly waiting for Chika to realize her mikan-sized mistake.

Chika stood, and thought for a second or two.

She looked at You with a look of dread and confusion, but quickly replaced that dread with a lighthearted smile, "Oh, yeah! I totally forgot to give you the directions, whoops!"

"Of course you did," You smugly looked into Chika's eyes, "You've always been this way, after all."

The two admired the afternoon sky from the roof of the school's courtyard, and then began to walk towards the exit of the school.

"What do you want to do today, You-chan?"

Chika looked at You with a curious look on her face, the whites of her eyes shining in the sun's light.

"We can go running! Or swimming! Or maybe we can just walk and enjoy the view?"

You turned to Chika, as if she was making a confession to her, and then clasped her hands together as she held them just below her head.

They walked for a moment, and then Chika let out a sigh and replied, "Enjoy the view? Isn't that a bit boring to you? But we can do it!"

The vibrant green and blues of the scenery and the animals who roamed near the school made it look like something that came out of a fairytale, and Chika and You continued talking, until they hit the exit.

Chika ran up to the black fenced gates, which were shining as brightly as a radiant diamond, and exclaimed "So, we're finally here! There's something I wanted to show you!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" You was startled by Chika's comment, and her eyes widened in curiosity.

As she quickly turned her eyes to the place she wanted You to see, Chika filled up with enthusiasm and shouted, "Look at this! Isn't it great??"

The place she was referring to was the corner of a large grey wall which was made with plain cement.

"It's a... wall? I see what you mean, buildings are awesome!" You smiled at Chika and gave her a wide smile. She was happy that Chika liked the wall.

"It's not just a wall, look over here!" 

Chika pointed her index finger at a yellow crystal poking out of a crevice in the bottom left of the wall. It was intensely bright, but it intrigued her sense of curiosity.

"Where did that crystal come from?"

You walked closer to it. She could see the radiance from a mile away, and she happened to get lured into it as well.

Chika took a quick glance at the sidewalk right next to the wall and sighed to herself, "I found it while I was looking for you, and I thought you would like it! I'm not sure what it is, but isn't it cool?"

You kneeled down to the crystal and poked it.

"Hey, it kind of burns, but it feels nice."

You looked at it lovingly, sharing a warm smile with it.

Chika walked up to You and asked her, "It does? I haven't tried to touch it, but I'm pretty sure you'll be alright!"

You stood up and said, "I don't know, but I trust you, Chika-chan."

The two of them walked away from the wall and headed towards the sky. By now it has transitioned into a sunset, one that both of them could enjoy.

They stood there for a minute or two, until You glanced down at the ground in discomfort.

"You-chan? Are you okay?"

 

Silence...

 

"I'm okay..."

"Are you really okay??"

"Really, I—"

As she said her response...

You passed out on the ground and fainted.

 

Pitch black...

* * *

A large white door at the front... one wide but very short window at the back. A flowerpot by the bed, and no one to be seen.

...

"Wh... Where am I..."

You had just woke up, sighing as she regained her breath. She spent the last 2 hours or so recovering, and just escaped from unconsciousness.

She tried to sit down, to focus more on her surroundings, but she soon realized that she was so exhausted that she couldn't even keep her own head up.

"Where... is... this..."

You shut her eyes, she felt as if she could pass out at any second.

For a minute or two, she waited for something to happen, like a friend appearing out of nowhere, or getting told about a dramatic situation at an equally as dramatic place... but surely that couldn't happen, she was just a normal schoolgirl, after all.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she felt a slight breeze, leading her to take a look to her right as she slowly glanced at what was around her. A blue curtain was placed to the right "wall" across from her, to separate the other rooms from her own. Finally, she noticed a small white cast on her left arm...

_Am I in a hospital?_

You thought to herself as her eyes enlarged in a split second, a stark realization went through her mind.

_Surely this couldn't have happened from the shine! It couldn't have, right?_

All of a sudden, You heard a trembling whisper coming from behind her room's door.

"Is You-chan here? I'm looking for her; I just have to know!! Please tell me?"

It was Chika.

By the time You heard Chika's warm, radiant voice, it had been around 3 hours after she had blacked out... so after a while of thinking, You figured that Chika might have been looking for her this whole time.

She heard Chika run off, as even in her weak condition, You could still hear her loud footsteps in the distance.

_Pitter patter._ _Pitter patter._

"Please! Do you know if You Watanabe is here?? She's one of my best friends in the whole wide world, it would kill me if I didn't know how she was!!"

You didn't know much about who Chika was talking to, though she knew it was one of the staff, but she caught herself nearly tearing up by Chika's sentiment, as she would have felt the same way about her... if You wasn't the one to have been stuck in this small hospital room.

"Room 230, let's try this one," Chika's voice escaped through the corridors yet again.

As her room's number was 232, reflected by the sign in front of her eyes, You realized that Chika was not only asking people where she was, but was also... looking through the rooms? You wasn't sure about this, but what she did know was that her beloved friend was a lot more determined to find her than she expected her to, she was touched. She knew what she had to do now.

She mustered all her strength, and...

_**"CHIKA-CHAN!!!"** _

* * *

You felt like she didn't have any energy left, but it was worth it. She did it. She yelled out what she had been wanting to say this whole time.

_**"YOU-CHAN?!?!"** _

Chika roared out with an incredibly heartfelt and passionate tone, responding by calling out You’s name just as she had done for her.

Her footsteps began in a blink of an eye after Chika’s words hit You’s heart, like a ray of hope in the distance… and then, the doorknob turned…?

_Weren't hospital rooms supposed to have their doors locked?_

You thought this to herself for a second, but that didn't matter now. You could finally see Chika, and perhaps she could get some exposition from her as well.

“You-chan, so this is where you were… if only I had known sooner, this wouldn't have happened to you…”

Chika had teardrops emerging from her eyes, appearing to be a moment away from rushing out of her.

“Chika-chan, do you know how I got here?”

You turned to Chika, who was to her left, right next to where she was, and stared into her glistening eyes.

“How you got here?" She cleared her throat and then continued, "I don't know at all, but knowing you’re safe is enough for me to be happy; I was so worried about you!”

Nearly starting to cry, Chika walked over to the tissue box by You’s bed and got herself something to wipe her tears from, and then,

“Wait a second, let me tell somebody you’re awake!”

she ran back away from the room, while softly exclaiming her sentiment to You.

You stared at a clock next to the tissue box for the whole time Chika was gone, and about 10 minutes passed from there. Besides the quiet beeping and buzzing of the machines in the distance, and the wind blowing from the window which had its curtains out in the open, the room was completely silent. Nobody to be heard, nobody to be seen, You felt alone… and almost at peace. As she was prepared to lull herself to sleep without even realizing it, she heard the doorknob turn yet again, and she knew just who was going to come.

 

“Hm?”

You let out a sigh as Chika and a mysterious brunette woman with a ponytail and a white suit entered the room.

“Oh my, so you’re the new patient Takami-san was talking about… You Watanabe, wasn't it? I’ll take a moment to introduce myself. I’ll be assisting you for the remainder of your stay, Akko Tanaka, you can call me ‘Doctor Tanaka’, pleased to meet you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Nice to meet you too.”

Chika stood to You’s left, and Dr. Tanaka stood to her right. They practically surrounded her, but not in a malicious way.

Dr. Tanaka declared with a slight grin on her face, “Your friend asked if I could explain what you’re in here for, so I’ll show everything there is to know.”

And from that moment, You's life changed... for better or for worse.

* * *

Dr. Tanaka took out a small brown book from her pocket and began reading from it.

_“About 3,000 years ago, there were two kingdoms dominating a majority of our world. One being the kingdom of Kanze, and the other being the kingdom of Millen. Millen prided itself with using the power of radiance, and Kanze used the power of darkness._  
_The two nations were in chaos for all of their existence, until a great war broke out between them. The battle lasted for many years…until one cold and stormy night, the two kings fought between their land's borders to settle their issue once and for all. It was in that moment where a piece of yellow crystal broke from the wall which separated their nations and suddenly released a ray of light that was so bright, it penetrated through the kings’ bodies and made them irreversibly injured to the point of death._  
_Because of this, it is believed that anyone who touches the crystal will die in a matter of days, and anyone who doesn't get harmed from it… those people are destined to harness the crystal’s power and become ‘Shine’, a hero who can stop anyone and anything in their way, and save the world from any evil forces it ever endures.”_

You attentively listened for the entirety of her story, and after about a second passed she asked her, “Am I going to die because I touched the crystal, or what?”

Dr. Tanaka started to laugh out of nowhere and then explained, “Not at all, you should be perfectly fine, though it means that now you’ll have to learn how to become a hero.”

“A hero? Me? But I don't think I’d be strong enough to be something like that,” You responded.

“Well, now you have the power inside you so I’m pretty sure you can do it. Besides, you’re not just any hero, you’re a Kamen Rider!... well, not exactly that, but close enough to have the name.”

Chika stood up at once in surprise at what Dr. Tanaka had just said, and exclaimed, “Wait!! She’ll be like a Kamen Rider? Those heroes in TV shows and stuff? Aren't they just fiction?”

“Those heroes on TV, they’re not just characters, they’re practically real! After all, becoming a hero is completely possible with the Shine,” Dr. Tanaka then turned to You, “But you’ll have to wait a while longer before you can use your new powers. As you most likely noticed already, you broke your arm, so you should stay here for at least the end of today and recuperate.”

It was about 10 PM at this time, so if everything went well, You would be able to get back home soon. For whatever reason none of her family members came to the hospital to check up on her, so she had to return as quickly as possible.

“Would it be alright if I stayed for a while longer?” Chika asked Dr. Tanaka, since she wanted to make sure her friend would be safe.

“Just for a bit, I’m sure your parents would be worried if you stayed here for too long.”

“Alright, alright… but you bet I won't leave just yet!”

At that moment, the three happily laughed in unity, as even inside the small and mostly empty room they were in, they still had a sense of pure joy remaining in their hearts.  
You looked at Chika and Dr. Tanaka and wondered what could possibly come out of the newfound ‘career’ as a hero she got herself into, but she vowed to herself to do her best, for the sake of the future.


	2. A Hero's First Steps

Two weeks later and about twenty miles away from the hospital, Chika decided to head out of her house to check up on You. She recalled seeing a white cast on her arm and wanted to see if she recuperated enough to have it taken off. Taking a small brown bag with her, decorated with a mikan-shaped keychain, the soft ringing of the metal and her footsteps, in addition to the blue waves rushing into Uchiura’s ocean, were the only sounds to be heard. After all, having begun her travels right after sunrise, most people in the town were still asleep, though since she knew You always woke up extra early in the morning even when she decides to not dive, that wasn't an issue. What was an issue, however, was trying to stay awake, but she had something in mind to show her that she wanted to spend the whole day talking about so she fought through her tiredness. Whether You could make a speedy recovery didn't change much, as this was something Chika knew her friend couldn't pass up.

After a while of watching the sky fade into a pale blue, she finally started her journey. You’s house was a fair distance away from where she was at, so Chika went ahead and began to run, in case anything were to happen in the near future that would halt her from achieving her goal.  
The wind that followed the direction she headed then turned into a reminder as to how far she went, when she finally arrived at her destination a few minutes later. She had already been here many times in the time she has known of her, so she knew just what to do next. Knock on the door and wait for a response, of course.

As quickly as it first began, it continued, with Chika coming into You’s house at last. Her father was the one to be in there, along with herself, so after talking for a short while about the usual, daily plans and the such, she asked if it would be alright to check up on her, and surprisingly enough she was let in.

Against the short hallways she went across, a telltale sign was what could lead her to You’s room even if she hadn't memorized the location already. A small silver-chained necklace around a doorknob, with a blue sailboat-shaped charm hanging from the middle of it. She knocked a few times, to see what difference the gesture would make, but when there was no response she figured that perhaps the door was locked, which it wasn't. Then, as she somehow didn't think of asking her earlier, Chika sent a quick text to You on her phone in case she was gone, in which she responded that she wasn't. When the long relay of cause and effect concluded, she made a grand display of indifference and just… opened the door, and You was there, sitting down from her bed, staring at her in stoic confusion, as if to subtly tease her after watching her ‘swift’ arrival. That was it, that was all it took, her effort was all for mostly nothing, it seemed. But that didn't matter to her now. This was only the beginning of what she planned to do.

* * *

Chika shut the door and stood a short distance away from the center of the room, and right after that said to You, “So, You-chan! I remember that the last time we saw each other, in the hospital, I saw that cast you had. How are you feeling?” mostly unaware of the fact that she should have spoken a lot more quietly than she actually did.

“Did you come because of that? I got it off a short while ago, so really, I’m fine!”

“I mean, of course I came for that, but also... I wanted to show you something! Since you’ll be a hero and all pretty soon!”

Chika got out the bag she had held around her shoulder for the whole time she had been out of her house, and what was inside it… was a set of three DVDs, all containing different seasons of a Tokusatsu show, Kamen Rider. After hearing of the correlation between that and what You’s new role as a hero would be like, she went out and bought whatever she could, as fast as she could, to show her what it was all about. And since she knew there would be costumes involved, Chika had the feeling that You wouldn't want to miss this chance for the world.

Chika walked over right next to You’s bed and sat down, and then exclaimed, “Here, look! I bought this a while ago and thought I’d show you!”

“Huh? You brought DVDs? I wasn't expecting this at all!” You humbly said, after she went a few feet from where Chika was, to her front.

The ground was a grey, textured surface, which contrasted the blue circle-shaped rug the two girls were sitting on. To its right was the small television You had, sitting alongside a shelf in the corner of her room. When You glanced to the TV, knowing that this was a situation which would call for it, Chika went ahead and unloaded some snacks she brought in addition to what she had previously taken out. Being mostly just sweet bread and mikans, she figured it would be alright for the two of them to eat the food together as they watched the shows.

Chika replied to You, following a short moment of silence, “Yeah, I didn't know if you knew about what being a hero would be like, though even if you did I thought they would be fun to watch anyway.”

“Actually, I’m not too sure of it myself,” You took at look at one of the DVD cases and begun to think about them for a split second, “but it looks like I’ll be learning now. How much do you know about this show?”

“I remember seeing an episode a long time ago, but I don't know much other than that. Wouldn't it be fun to see what it's like, together?”

“I think it would! But could I ask, why did you bring three of these?”

“About that! I was thinking, there's a whole bunch of these, so I wanted to see what kind you would be most interested in!”

You approached Chika just a bit and smiled at her as she said, “Aw, Chika-chan! So, what are they about?”

“What are they… about? I just bought the first three I saw so I don't know, but maybe if you look at the titles, you can decide!”

You laid out the three DVDs on the floor and responded, “I’ll try doing that, then,” as she read the titles.

“So you brought Kamen Rider Drive, Fourze, and Ex-Aid, huh? Fourze’s catching my interest a bit more than the others, what do you think?”

“That one? I read a bit of the show description and apparently the characters are high-schoolers, like we are! Isn't that cool?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Do you wanna watch it?”

Chika got closer to You and peered at her shoulder affectionately.  
“Come on, didn't I say you can choose? Time’s not getting any slower, let's do it~!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll put it in,” You said as she took out the DVD from its case and prepared to play it.

Once they both got everything set up, the two girls were ready to experience what only the most gullible of minds could consider ‘hero-training’, yet they both were on board with the idea.

About 5 episodes in, Chika turned to You’s direction in curiosity of what she may be thinking so far.  
“You-chan~ So, what do you think?”  
“Hm? About that… I wonder if I can be a good hero, if it would be like anything we just saw... nothing other than that though! How about you, Chika-chan?”  
“It sounds pretty cool to me, I’ll be supporting you!”  
“You’ll be supporting me? Really? Then there's no question that all I need to know now is what to do next.”  
“What to do next? Well, what we’ll need to do now is do some training, and then you’ll be ready to fight whoever’s in your path!”  
“I guess you’re right,” You took Chika’s hand and gently started to hold it, “it looks like I’ll be in your care from now on.”  
“But even without me, you can do this for sure!”  
Chika turned off the DVR and the TV, and then proceeded to look towards You’s laptop. After all of that, she turned to You and asked, “Should we use this and see what we can do?”  
“Sure, why not? It’ll be fun doing all of this with you anyway.”

* * *

  
By the time they began their work, it was around midday, with the wind blowing west towards You’s open seafoam green curtains, giving the two a refreshing breeze, and because of the snacks left from their binge-watching, they had no need to stop their duties and leave the room. It was just the Chika, You, and the screen, with nothing else able to distract them other than the things that could possibly come up on their minds.

Chika was laying down on You’s bed as she saw her look through a website dedicated to powerful objects.  
“Hey, You-chan? Do you know what powers the shine has? What does that page you’re on say?”  
“Umm… it seems like it has the power to give me ‘ultimate strength and infinite possibilities’... but I don't think something like that is really true.”  
“Why not? Those people in that one show had powers of their own, didn't they?”  
“Yeah, but not like this! It's way too good to be true, apparently with this I’m unstoppable, even against the strongest things there are.”  
“Strongest things there are!” Chika rolled out of bed and moved to You’s side, and said, “Like the great vitamin C monster~!”  
You giggled a bit from Chika’s strange sense of humor.  
“...very funny, Chika-chan.”

About an hour later, the two reached a sort of ‘dead end’. You then turned to Chika for her own advice.  
“I never asked this before, but don't we need some kind of belt or something before any fighting can happen?”  
“A belt? I don't think either of us have it, but don't you have that crystal from earlier?”  
“I haven't thought of the crystal, but sure, I’ll bring it here and look at what it can do.”  
You had the crystal stored behind one of her cabinets, and began to take it out. She then put it right next to her computer, where the both of them could look at it in wonder. Its yellow glow brightened the whole room beyond belief, having been exposed to darkness for quite a while, but Chika and You stuck it out until it began to dim.  
“Ooh, I haven't seen it in a while, but it looks just as pretty as I remembered it!”  
Chika held the crystal with both her hands and started to slowly turn it around, paying attention to all its corners. It had a very rough texture, being very similar to what could only be described as a normal rock, having many flat edges surrounding it. She only stopped when she noticed a medium-sized black hole in the crystal, as she had nothing to say in her confusion until after she took the time to see if it did anything to her.  
“Chika-chan, do you mind if I see that?”  
“Here you go, see what it does!”  
Chika let the crystal out of her hands into You’s.  
“What would happen if I did…” You stuck her right index finger into the hole out of curiosity, “this?”  
Three sets of sparks emerged from the crystal, seemingly trying to send some sort of sign to You.  
“Wait a minute! Try sending a salute to it, maybe that's how you're supposed to transform!!”  
“What?! That's how you think I can transform? Your idea has got to be the craziest one I’ve even thought of, but here goes nothing!”

* * *

**“Zenzoku zenshin!! Yousoro!!!”**  
She sent her highest regards to the crystal, as if it were a holy being. Being caught up in her thoughts she didn't even think of how she was still in her house, where her family could surely hear her.  
At that very moment she saw a white haze that quickly faded out, and all that remained when she returned to her surroundings was…  
“You-chan!!!! You did it!!”  
a muted yellow metal suit that covered the entirety of her body. She was truly a Kamen Rider, one that she was fated to be, and what she was looking to as her future destiny, decided by the crystal that started it all.  
“You were right, I wouldn't have expected it at all, but you were right… Chika-chan!!”  
She didn't even mind the slight difficulty she had while moving, all You wanted to do now was give Chika a hug.  
“So this will be the beginning, huh?” Chika held You tightly in her arms, “Nice to meet you, Shine-san.”  
“Nice to meet you too, Chika-san.”

 _I likely won't be fighting anything today so maybe I should change back. Wait, how do you even get out of this thing…_  
You wondered this to herself and then thought up of a solution.  
**“Kara no… keirei!”**  
She gave a great salute, with the crystal in one hand and the other hand held to where her forehead was, as she said her line slightly less loudly, hoping for nothing more but a good ending.  
After she realized that she was able to guess out what to do to get out of her suit, she looked into Chika’s eyes.  
“I wouldn't have ever believed I would have gotten myself into all of this even a month ago, but here we are.”  
“Yeah, I don't really know much about heroes and stuff myself, but I want to see what will happen by your side, You-chan.”  
“Then let's do this together. I know I can count on you.”  
“I’ll be counting on you too!”

* * *

They looked at the window, where it had already turned to nightfall. Their day was coming to a close yet again, and they made their farewells.  
You walked together with Chika all the way to the door and said,  
“Thanks for today. I’m really glad you're with me.”  
“I’m glad to be with you too.”  
Chika smiled as she stood to You’s left, and then ran off into the distance, heading home for the day.


	3. Nothing Less Than The Unexpected

“Ehh?? You’re gonna have to practice?”

“Of course I have to! Chika-chan, if I want to be a great hero, I can't go around messing up my first fight, right?”

“I guess… but those other Kamen Riders were just thrown into one and were able to win, so shouldn't you be able to do that too?”

“We’re real people in a real world, if I get hurt I might die, and the fate of Uchiura is practically in my hands! I have to be prepared!”

You and Chika set out to find a good place for any powers to be tested out, looking across all of their town for anywhere good. They couldn't go too far outside, because they would have to walk all the way back home sooner or later, but their hopes still never once dimmed. Across Uchiura there weren’t many establishments or homes, but it was still a worry, or at least so much that the factor was considered in the two’s thought process. However, finding anywhere at all was by far the hardest part. There were barely any alleyways all around town, since the roads were often surrounded by the ocean or inhabited areas, so eventually they were left to the last few corners they could both look through.

Chika stopped for a moment… and then started walking again while asking You, with a slightly annoyed tone, “How long have we been looking through here again?”

You calmly responded, “I don't know… can't you check your phone or something?”

“I forgot what time we began though, it's no use…” Chika pouted her mouth as her eyes squinted from the bright sun shining over them, she was near defeated.

Even with their similar outfits, You with a light and comfy blue shirt paired with darker blue shorts, and Chika wearing a pale yellow shirt and red shorts, Chika was considerably more frustrated than You was.  
You remained lively and energetic even after what seemed like hours of walking without any breaks, since she had experience with long sessions of training as an expert of diving. In contrast, Chika wasn't too experienced with anything physical that wasn't assigned as schoolwork, so she had a tendency to get tired easily. This difference in feelings caused a sort of emotional disconnect, but it was nothing major enough to split the two very much.

“Hey, Chika-chan, I see a corner we haven't walked through yet! Let's go in!”

“Hopefully this’ll be the one we've been looking for, I can't take much more of this.”

“Aw come on, we can surely go full steam ahead for just a bit longer, right?”

“Maybe we can?… Alright, aye aye~”

They started heading towards the right turn; before this they were both just walking in the middle of the sidewalk, but the place You mentioned was a different, lighter color than the rest of the road, one that she had never seen before while looking for a place to practice in.  
A big, wide open space of smooth concrete greeted them after they made the curve. While the two looked at their surroundings, Chika started touching the ground and feeling around the place.

“There's like barely any bumps anywhere on the ground, it's so strange…

“Hm? I guess I gotta check in too.”

You rubbed the ground with the palm of her hand, paying attention to how it felt.

“I see what you mean, it's like it was created just for this purpose, so we can use it!”

The area had a colder temperature than the rest of the town, and its walls were very far apart. In You’s eyes, it was nothing short but perfect, and Chika sided with her thoughts.

“So we can use it… you're right! It's destiny!!”

“Destiny? What about fate?! It's surely fate!! We haven't found anywhere better than this, we should practice over here!”

“Whatever it is, it's decided! We can start now if you want!”

“It's your call, sir You-chan!”

Chika had a wide smile on her face knowing that their journey was finally over, and that their next one has just begun.

* * *

The two girls were standing right across from each other, at a several foot long distance apart.

“Now, show me what ‘ya got!”

“Got it!”

You took out the shine from her pocket and proceeded to put her index finger into the hole below, like she did last time she transformed.

 ** _“Zenzoku zenshin!”_**  
Her suit started to come into place.  
**_“Yousoro!”_**

You then noticed a small puddle of murky water that reflected her suit’s appearance.

A mainly yellow and black striped coat of armor stood before it, with the area of her wrists and her legs being a desaturated shade of yellow, and stripes of a darker shade of yellow became progressively closer together, all the way to up her face’s area, which was completely dark grey.

“You finally got to take a look at it, huh?” Chika said, while turning to You as she was reflecting on herself.

“Yeah, I haven't seen the whole thing until now, actually.”

“Then look at it as much as you want! It must be pretty exciting to see!”

You felt Chika place her shoulder on her, which then caused her to nearly fall down in shock. After a few seconds of recuperating she said, “Ehm.. I think I’m alright, let's just get to our work now.”

“Wait a minute, what are you even supposed to do when trying to figure out how to use your powers?

“That's what we’ll have to figure out, right? It's kinda like solving a mystery!”

“Solving a mystery… then we need to figure out our clues! What do you know now, You-chan?”

“Let's see what we have… the shine I have has a really bright radiance to it, what I have to do is similar to what a Kamen Rider does, and I was able to transform with a ‘yousoro~’... are those clues?”

“Are those clues? What do you mean, of course they're clues, anything can be a clue!

“Then do you have any clues too?”

“I don't have a lot, but didn't that Tanaka dude say that you had a disease or something that made you not die from the radiance?”

“Yeah, yeah, that too! So what do you think, Chika-chan? Lend me your mikan power!... hehe.”

“Umm…” Chika thought to herself for a short while and then got back to answering, “You can always try attacking random things while saying random stuff! If you focus on the shine, maybe you can do it!”

“Alright then. Could you step aside for a while? I think I’m ready to get started now.”

Chika walked away to you until she reached a good enough distance away from her.  
“One, two, go!!”

You raised her right arm and held her palm to her front at a rapid speed and then saw a few sparks come from her suit. She felt an intense warmth in her, the feeling rushing all the way to her veins.

“Those sparks! I think we saw the same thing from the first time you transformed, try saying something to go along with it now!”

“You were right last time, so I’ll follow your advice again. Let's do this!”

You repositioned her hand into the same position it was at before, after releasing it from its former place, while shouting out,  
**“YELLOW STRIKER!”**

A sound emerged from the suit rather than sparks this time around, and You took it as a sign of what was to come.

“Hey, did you hear that?” You looked over to Chika, who was looking over the area they were in, “I think we're getting closer.”

“Then try it again, you got this!”

You repeated the procedure, shouting out the same **YELLOW STRIKER** as before. The sound the suit made got louder, and then…  
**YELLOW-STRIKER!**  
**STRIKE! THE! SAILLL!!**  
A voice emerged instead of the slight beep that was present before, which led to the suit brightening up.

She placed her hands against each other and waited until her warmth faded. When she released her hands, she had the gut feeling to direct them in front of the puddle. All the water evaporated at that very second.

“You-chan! D...Did you just see that??” Chika stumbled over her words out of pure shock.

“Why’s there smoke coming out from that hole?”

“Did you just boil that?! Maybe you have fire powers!” Chika then ran up to hear You’s comment, with the both of them now staring at the puddle in a unified sense of disbelief.

You changed her volume of voice to a quiet whisper; a serious and nerve wracking aura entered the both of them.  
“Or… if I struck the sail, and the sail was water, this must mean I have electri—”

A loud thumping noise came out of nowhere, drowning out You’s voice entirely. The two had no choice but to look out for it.

* * *

“DID YOU JUST HEAR THAT THING?!”

“WHAT THING??”

“THE THING THAT’S MAKING US HAVE TO SCREAM!”

Chika grabbed You by her hand like she was some sort of knight in shining armor trying to save a damsel in distress, and began to run furiously.  
“Kara no keirei!”  
You returned back to her normal self so she wouldn't feel very drained as she moved, and then she began to run alongside Chika, eventually reaching the point that her speed surpassed that of Chika’s, and moving over the role of a graceful knight to its now rightful owner, You.

“Come along, Chika-chan! If we don't move fast enough we’re gonna get eaten for sure!”

“Eaten?! I don't know if we’ll get eaten, but sure, let's go!!”

“We’re too young to die, we have no choice but to run!”

They escaped out of their ‘training area’ and went out into the street without looking back even once. After taking a few turns out into a distant building, the two girls stopped and searched for what could possibly have been making those footsteps.

As she was catching her breath, Chika asked You, “Did you see anything?”

“Nope. Maybe we should stay here and see what that… thing… looks like.”

“If it's a monster or something, would you be ready to fight it?”

“I’m not the most prepared, but I’m sure I’ll learn with experience.”

“Alrighty then, looks like we’ll be heading out~!”

Chika started to nonchalantly walk out into the open as if she was trying to become bait when You caught her by the arm and dragged her along to the edge of a wall.

“Though it would be best just to look out for anything unusual we might see.”

You peered into the distance that was behind the wall, only using the very corners of her eyes to not expose herself in the process.  
Sure she may have seen a bit of the clear afternoon sky above the empty grey road, but what really stood out to her was the black hexagon-shaped creature heading towards where Chika and You were. It was quite a far distance away from them, with it appearing to be very small and blurry from her perspective, but You still felt the need to alert Chika of her discovery.

“Chika-chan, look over this wall with me, I found something strange!”

“Something... strange? I guess I’ll look at it too.”

Chika moved over to where You was, and looked along with her from behind her.

“Hmm, that really is strange. But it looks like some kind of monster, right? It must be a sign that you should go out and take it on in a battle!”

“A… A battle?! But just look at the size of that thing, it's huge!!”

“But do you see those legs over there? They're super thin and really long compared to everything else, just like a spider’s legs are! If you can cut them off with your powers, attacking everything else should be a piece of cake!”

“It can't be that easy, it can't possibly be that easy, can’t it?”

“Oh come on, You-chan! You’ve cheered me on so many times, and you've done lots of great things too! If there's anyone who can get out there and destroy that super huge spider-robot thing, it would be you!”

“Chika-chan… well, we can't stay here forever, so it would be a good idea for me to go after all!”

“That's my You-chan right there!” Chika playfully rubbed You’s head, “I know you can do it! Let's go!”

Chika and You walked along the edges of the walls again, but this time it was so they could approach the creature they found. Step by step, the thing they were looking for became more and more close, and the two girls became more and more nervous.

“You-chan! I don't even know how to fight, yet I’m still here?! Will I be alright?

“You were the one who was helping me out this whole time, you were like my leader! Of course you should be in here, you’ll be fine, I promise.”

You took Chika’s hand and held it tightly, looking for a reaction out of her.

“Heh?? I can't even believe you sometimes, doing this all of a sudden! We still have someone to fight, right?”

“You're right, you're right, we don't have much time to waste, so let's just get there.”

You and Chika ran until the were right in front of it. Until they encountered a dark purple emblem on the bottom of that spider-like contraption Chika and You were longing to see.

_Guilty Kiss._

 


	4. Intermission 1: Fate or Destiny? A Sinful Discovery!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About intermissions:  
> This is the first intermission of this story so I thought I'd explain them a bit~  
> I'll be using intermissions for exposition/perspective changes that are disconnected from the current flow of the story, and they'll be added throughout the story as needed.  
> This intermission chapter takes place while Chika and You are in the middle of practicing, before the end of Chapter 3. The 'real' Chapter 4 will continue right after where Chapter 3 left off

Nothing but darkness has been seen from the pitch black room today until the bright glare of the screen showed up, just like how all the other days to come before. A blonde, confident young woman walked up to take a look, all with a sinister smile on her face.

“Yoshiko-chan, have you seen anything yet?”

“It’s Yohane!... What are you looking at that screen for?”

“What am I looking at screen for? The same thing as usual, of course, the crystal I love above all else!”

“Again? We’ve been looking for that thing for, like, a year or so? Every single weekend you look at that same old thing for hours on end, with nothing getting back to any of us in return… I want the Shine too, but doesn't it seem a bit pointless to keep on looking?”

Yoshiko was lying in a firm dark purple couch with her hand keeping her head up, glaring at Mari and the screen in discontent. She questioned the motives of what their organization has been doing. While she didn't do it enough to consider quitting, it was enough to make her complain to her comrade, Mari.

The organization she was in, Guilty Kiss, consisted of three members. Mari Ohara, an eccentric woman who craved the Shine like nobody else did, Yoshiko Tsushima, a stubborn girl who couldn't stand the thought of not being a fallen angel, and Riko Sakurauchi, a calm and relatively normal girl who rounded out the group.

“I thought I told you this before, but I don't mind saying again… it just makes my appetite all the greater.”  
In the back corner of the room was a small kitchen, and in it was a wide grey pot with a ‘Stewshine’ post-it note placed on the bottom.

“Do you see that pot over there? You see… in that pot I’ve been wanting to make a grand bowl of Stewshine, filled with as many incredible ingredients as I can find, and even though I can buy most of them pretty easily, do you know what I can't buy?...”  
The cynical blue-haired girl, Yoshiko, continued to glare at Mari, as she paused to let her answer the clearly rhetorical question she just asked.  
“...it's the Shine crystal, of course~! And that is why we need to search for it, because I just know that when we do, our time spent will all be worth it!”

“Would you mind if I see that screen over there, Mari-san?”

“Go ahead, I don't mind at all. Just don't distract my view☆”

Yoshiko got out from the couch and into one of the chairs laid out beside where Mari’s was at. As she was sitting down, the hair bun she had on nearly falling off, she couldn't help but want to ask something else of her.

“Mari-san, how much footage can you get on that screen at a time?”

“I have…” Mari counted up all the rectangles on the screen, and then answered, “ten segments up at the moment, why do you ask?”

What Mari was looking at was a grid of security camera footage, shot live from all the hidden cameras Guilty Kiss has put around Uchiura. They knew their town was where the Shine was located, so now they were just looking for the moment where they could find it in plain sight, from their recordings alone. Actually finding it was imagined to be an easy task, with the crystal often being so bright that as soon it was on screen, its radiance would have blinded the portion of the screen that was assigned to that specific area. This procedure was taking advantage of a safety measure carefully planned out by the people who made those cameras, and Mari was surely not going to stop using them for her purpose any time soon.  
However, that plan of hers was all going to change at that very moment.

“I was going to ask…” Yoshiko lowered her voice to make way for her fallen angel fantasy, “because I think one of your screens ascended to heaven.”

The middle right screen was completely covered by a bright yellow haze.

“Yellow! Is this it?”

“Get that thing to focus on the screen for us! Maybe we’ll hear something.”

Mari pressed on a few light up buttons and proceeded to attentively pay attention to what was going to come up next.

“Wait a minute! Yoshiko-chan, where’s Riko? She can't miss this!”

“I think she's out today, but let me check on her to make sure.”  
Yohane stood up from the chair so she could let out all of her voice.  
“Riri!!”

* * *

The two girls heard a slight groan from under the screen’s control board.

“...hey guys…”

Riko had dark eye bags and her dark red hair could only be described as being incredibly messy. She was obviously tired out, rubbing one of her eyes with her right hand and having a drowsy look on her face. It was at that moment when Yoshiko realized why Riko was absent from her and Mari’s discovery. She was asleep and none of them have realized it until now.

Mari was incredibly surprised, asking her, “R-Riko-san! You were sleeping under the computer?”

“It's not that bad... right…?”

“You can't be a guilty little demon if you were weak enough to be sleeping for the whole day!” Yoshiko let out a sigh. “Well, nevermind that, we need to show you something, quick!”

“Huh?... What is it?”

Just as Riko said that, the three girls heard a vague mumble from the speakers.  
_...YELLOW STRIKER!..._

“Wow~! That's so wonderful!”

Riko finally stood up and started looking at the screen as well. She turned to Mari for a moment.  
“Mari-san, does that screen have the shine you’re looking for?”

“It likely does. Just look at that fog! It's slowly disappearing, but we can still see it loud and clear!”

Yoshiko then asked, “What will we do if that area really did have the Shine?”

“Wouldn't we be forced to take it no matter what? If we want to complete our Stewshine, that is,” Riko replied.

Mari explained, “We would, of course we would, how could we just let it pass by untouched when we can have it all for ourselves?”

Mari, Yoshiko, and Riko kept on watching. A few minutes passed, and the screen was finally visible to them. Someone in a yellow and black armored suit was seen placing their hands together passionately. They then released them into a space of water. And what happened next? It vanished completely, as if it never existed in the first place.  
There was no doubt that they were the one who was Kamen Rider Shine, holder and user of the Shine crystal. The true opponent of Guilty Kiss.

Yoshiko dropped her jaw once she made this realization, she couldn't even say anything except…  
“It's them! It's really them!!”

Mari had the largest grin on her face, “Yoshiko-chan, didn't you ask me why I was looking for so long? Well, this is it, this right here was my biggest dream for ages, and now it's finally here!”

“So, should we start moving?”

“Let's let ‘em wait for a little bit longer, I wanna see what the two think. They're pretty cute.”

About a minute passed without any of them saying anything, all their focus on the screen and those two mysterious people’s voices.

Riko said, “It’s been enough time, what if they leave now?”

Mari then answered, “Do you think they’ll really leave now? They look like they’ve only just begun though~”

“But what if they have to go back home for some reason? Like how I have to descend from time to time, they can both just start running away any time they wanted,” Yoshiko remarked.

“You're right, maybe we really should move. What do you think, Riko-chan?”

Riko moved a large lever and took control.  
“There's no stopping us now, let's get a move on!”

Yoshiko yelled, “Riri!!”  
Mari yelled, “Riko-chan!!”

They were both in shock, saying that one word in perfect ‘harmony’.  
That one step was taken, that one large noise was already created.  
Guilty Kiss was in motion, and their own journey has just started.


	5. Revolving Connections

You and Chika were standing in front of the machine that was above them. Its gleam shining brightly, the shimmering dark grey color appeared to be a menacing ‘face’ to the two girls. They read that label yet again, the one that only said Guilty Kiss, and prepared themselves for what was to come. After taking one step forward, the monster hopped in the girls’ direction. You then relied on her instincts, transforming into the shine to yell out a **YELLOW STRIKER!** to tear down two of its legs with her beams, turning back to normal right after.  
They crumbled into pieces, and the rest of its 6 remaining legs spread out. It was almost down to the ground, and then the door with that purple label Chika and You saw before started to open.  
As the door emitted an opaque white fog, three girls emerged.

You exclaimed, “Wait, what?”  
Before this moment, the monster was believed to be a sentient creature, one that aimed to destroy Uchiura, but now it became clear that those three girls were who were truly responsible for it.

A blonde girl, Mari, stood at the center of the group, facing the two with a sinister glare, and asked, “Have you two not met us before, by any chance~?”

Chika replied, “Of course we haven't! I haven't seen you three in all my life!”

“In that case… allow me to make a special introduction… just~ for~ you~”

Mari headed over a few steps forward, as the other two girls remained standing in place, she pressed a big red button on the remote she held in her hand and got into a flashy pose, “Now let the show begin!”

Speakers from what appeared to be coming out from the machine started playing a short tune, and the three girls started singing…

(Note: the melody of the music is similar to what is found in ‘in this unstable world’)

 _Guilty! Guilty! Rise! Rise_!

As soon as it began the three girls began moving along the ‘stage’, doing nonsensical poses that clearly showed that they were merely trying to distract both Chika and You.  
Yoshiko, the blue haired girl who was in the group’s left, moved closer to the two as she sung her line, placing her right hand on the edge of her face as she did a pose with some of her fingers.

_The Fallen Angel has arrived!_

The dance number, along with Guilty Kiss’ ‘image song’ left You in pure shock, though Chika was bobbing her head to the beat.  
“Chika! You’re doing this too? Clearly they’re supposed to be our enemies, they might be planning something!”

“Sorry… sorry…” Chika jolted her head to You and then stopped.

_Guilty! Guilty! Rise! Rise!_

_And with that, behold your eyes!_

Mari sung her own line as You drifted into space... _they would be the only ones prideful enough to have their own song, would they..._ she thought to herself.

_Guilty! Guilty! Rise! Rise!_

_For the show has just begun!_

The way Riko spun, her dark red hair twirled gracefully in the wind as she sung the last of their solo lines.

Riko, Mari, and Yoshiko got back into their initial places and proceeded to show off a ‘sexy’ pose, in which after doing so they completely lost their dignity. They were already previously on the verge of laughing mid-song so they already proved themselves to be a mess.

_Guilty! Guilty! Rise! Rise!_

_To take the shine, we’ll be the ones!_

_Guilty Kiss, YES!_

The song finally ended, and the speakers stopped playing the tune.  
Mari bowed to the nonexistent crowd, and  
started speaking yet again.  
“What did you think~?”

Chika excitedly answered, “It was pretty great, huh? You guys are good!”

You had no words other than the look of dismay she had on her face.

“Right~?... Besides all of that, I’ll get to the real introduction!”

Mari pointed her fingers at the first of her two friends she wanted to introduce, and then began, “This blue-haired beauty is our very own, Yoshiko Tsushima~!”

Yoshiko interrupted her for a split second with, “It’s Yohane!”

“Isn't Yoshiko the cutest thing?” Mari pointed her right hand at herself, “I am Mari, Mari Ohara, the leader of Guilty Kiss!” and then pointed both her hands yet again to her left, “and she’s Riko Sakurauchi! Isn't she great too?”

You concernedly asked, “So you guys are the owners of that spider thing? That Guilty Kiss machine?”

Mari clasped her hands together innocently and then spoke for a bit longer, “Ah yes, we are! We three are Guilty Kiss, the ones looking for the most valuable crystal there is, and I was thinking… that you had it.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you! We three already saw you with that gorgeous suit on, we know it all now.”

“Well, you're not wrong…”

“Not to mention you told your friend that we could be the bad guys—”

“You heard that?” Chika got into the conversation, yelling this to Mari in surprise.

“The only question now is… could you give it to us?”

You then declared, “What? No! There's no way in hell I’m doing that!”

Mari stepped all the way to right in front of You, menacingly glaring at her and asking, “Are you looking for a fight?”

After thinking of the possible options, from their all too prevalent condescending nature, the two girls made their choice.

“Bring it!”

They said this not only to Mari, but to Yoshiko and Riko as well. The decision was made, and there was no turning back.

* * *

The members of Guilty Kiss, Chika, and You headed off to an unoccupied body of road in the distance to start off their battle. It was like the one You and Chika were using for their training earlier on, but this time it was closer to walls that could potentially be a hazard. Mari, Yoshiko, and Riko were on one side, and Chika and You were on the other.

About a minute passed before Mari whipped out a dark crystal from her pocket. She shouted off into the distance,  ** _“FREEZE AND SUMMON!!”_**

Several rocks came and shot out from the ground. They had a dry exterior and appeared to be weak distractions of some sort.  
After they appeared, Mari, Yoshiko, and Riko all got into the same position and waited for Chika and You to look at their new surroundings, and after that took a separate purple badge and placed it into an indent in their shoulder blade.  
_**“Viva Guilty~!”**_ they shouted, and as they were transforming into a different form, their suits responded. ** _  
No! More! Justice!_**

Chika whispered into You’s ear, “Their suits can talk too?”  
You replied, “They have suits?”  
Her ‘question’ was never answered, as the two simply watched from this moment forward.

Yoshiko stuck out her index finger and pointed it at You, “You know, if your little friend over there-”

Chika interrupted her, “I have a name too!”

“Then what is it?”

“Chika!”

Yoshiko cleared her throat and then continued, “If Chika doesn't have any way to transform as well, clearly you're outnumbered! This is your only chance to back out, got it?”

You answered, “I’ll still be fine, even with this three to one, I’ll still take you guys down!”

Mari stepped into the conversation, “Then it's settled, there's no time to waste so let's get started,” she walked over to You and got close to her, “shall we~?”

Chika said in surprise, “Hey! Do you have a thing for her?”

Mari answered as she blushed more and more, “N...No, I just wanted to set the mood, you see? She’s my enemy! You're my enemy!”

“Alright then… anyway, You-chan, do your thing! You got this!”

You turned to Chika, “I’ll do my best!”

You carefully pulled her crystal out and transformed as well, putting it away right after she said  **Zenzoku Zenshin!** so that none of her three opponents would be able to steal it from her.

The four girls who were fighting were in their positions and ready to make their moves.  
Mari started off by charging into You and tugging along at You’s arm, leaving only her other one able to attack.  
You then kicked Mari, using both of her feet at once to push at Mari’s waist and pull the two of them apart. She succeeded, but this led Mari to turn to Riko.

“Get our powers to work, she’s stronger than I thought she would be.”

“I’ll do it.”

Riko dashed from the right back corner of the group to being at the very center, holding a red book that she was reading off of.  
Riko started the spell, _**“Yohane… shoukan!... Mari… shoukan!”**_

Yoshiko continued, _**“Riri… shoukan!”**_

All of them responded in unison,

_**“Love is everything, Guilty Kiss!”** _

Their spell was followed up with a purple wave of shimmering fog coming from behind them and an equally as extravagant pose.  
All of their suits started to glow in all of their radiance, and Yoshiko started to attack You as well. She threw out two black sticks that were stuck onto her back and began to chant.

_**“FIRST-STANZA!”** _

_**DATENSHI’S PROSE!** _

The sticks lit up on fire, and she threw them at You.  
As the sticks burned, they morphed into two black wolf-like robots.

“Go get her!”

You stuck out her hands and recited the one attack she was sure would work.

_**“YELLOW STRIKER!”** _

_**STRIKE THE SAILLL!!!** _

A lighting ball emerged from each of her palms, and she directed them towards Yoshiko’s heart. Since the wolves were her familiars, if she was destroyed, both of them would disappear… was what she was thinking.

As soon as both of them hit Yoshiko’s suit her body shook, and she then fell onto the ground. The familiars started to disintegrate even though Yoshiko didn't completely faint, so all there was left to do was to defeat her.  
You contemplated what she was going to do next, until a high pitched voice came out from behind the wall.

“Radiant shatter! That’ll work!”

 _Huh? What was that? I never heard this voice anywhere in my life…_ You’s inner thoughts doubted the validity of this mysterious voice’s words, but out of desperation she tried it out.

You headed towards Yoshiko slowly, trying not to disturb her from her supposed slumber, and then said,  
_**“RADIANT SHATTER!”**_

Her suit started to form crystals of what appeared to be glass, and it was clear what she had to do now. You would have to throw it up to her most sensitive spot. Where Yoshiko’s sticks used to be at. That would be where her suit was most exposed, and where the most damage could be dealt.

_“Ba~ng!”_

The mysterious voice popped up yet again, but You didn't pay any attention to that as all of her focus was going towards defeating at least one third of Guilty Kiss.  
You placed the burning crystals on Yoshiko carefully, and she stepped back to see what would happen next.

* * *

Her suit started to combust, starting with her back and eventually going all the way to her face. Her suit was completely gone and Yoshiko laid unconscious, burn marks covering a portion of her clothes and even a small fraction of her exposed skin. Before it tore away, however, Mari ran up to Yoshiko, Riko following her lead as she tried not to overreact.

“What? How did this happen?”

Mari looked into You’s eyes in terror, she had no idea one of her comrades was actually going to fall to who she thought would be an easy person to defeat.

“How did this happen? It was all you. You were the one who started this, coming up and challenging Chika and me to a fight, wasn't it?”

After a few moments of silence, Riko said, “We were going to kill you head on, but you were stronger than we thought you would be, you were more experienced than we thought you would be. We’ll be retreating for now, so neither I or Mari will fall to you as well, but when we return, it'll all be over.”

The whites of her eyes completely vanished, as she glared at You with a look of discontent, but with an aura of calmness and maturity that wasn't seen in either Yoshiko or Mari. She was a force that was not to be messed with. You hasn't talked to Riko at all before this moment, she was completely silent in all the conversations to come before this one, but she already proved to be strong... at least in spirit.

Mari and Riko walked away, with both of them carrying Yoshiko in their arms, though before they left Mari said something that stuck out to You.  
“You may think you're strong now, but just you wait, soon enough you’ll be weaker than you ever thought you were.

You thought about what she just said when Chika asked her, “Hey, earlier when you were fighting I heard a voice coming from outside, should we look for it?”

“I guess so… either way we should really get out of here.”

You got out of her suit one **Kara no Keirei!** later, when a small girl with red hair and twintails suddenly came out from the grey wall and approached both Chika and You.

 


	6. A New Friend Awaits

You and Chika looked at the twintailed girl with nothing but curiosity. Did she have a question? Did she need help? Was she lost? There were many questions that could be asked, but they all could be directed to one even bigger, more important question. Why did she approach them?  
She appeared to be a bit younger than they were. Her round green eyes and light red hair accentuated her youth, but what made her appearance all the more intriguing was her casual outfit. She wore a simple white shirt under a dark blue skirt that had straps holding onto her shoulder blades, with a pink bag that completed her look. She didn't seem like a person who was supposed to approach total strangers, like someone who was assigned to interview celebrities or other important people, so the fact that she was here, standing in front of them like she had something important to say... while it wasn't jarring or anything, it was certainly not something that was expected.

The young girl clenched both of her hands to her chest, starting to shake nervously, and then started to speak to the two other girls.

“Uhm, are you guys busy?”

Chika stepped in to answer this girl's question.

“We shouldn't be busy anytime soon, what do you need?”

At this time it was about midafternoon, so neither Chika or You needed to return home in the near future.

“I was going to ask, do any of you know about a ‘Radiant Shatter'?”

“A Radiant Shatter?!”

“Um, yeah, I saw someone shouting some things earlier so I wanted to help out and suggest saying this.”

You stuck out her right index finger at the girl and said, “So you were the girl who said that!”

“Pigii!” The ‘unknown’ girl yelped at the very moment You said this.

Chika was a bit confused after she heard her… unique response, and replied, “Pigii…?”

“D-Don’t mind that!”

You asked, “Anyway, I don't think I’ve met you before. What's your name?”

“My name?... I’m Ruby, Ruby Kurosawa.” Ruby started to blush as soon as she said this.

“Hmm, so you're more of the quiet type, huh? Well, I’ll introduce myself too! I’m Chika Takami!”

“I’m You Watanabe! Nice to set sail with you~!”

“N-Nice to meet you too!” Ruby stopped talking for a moment to think to herself, and then continued, “So you guys heard what I said?”

You said, “We both did, but I was the one who took your advice, and luckily enough it worked!”

“If you took my advice, then are you like a hero?”

“I mean, I guess I am, hehe. How did you know?”

“I’ve always been a fan of heroes, so when I saw someone who looked like they were in a real fight I wanted to do my Rubesty and help!”

“So you like heroes… how much do you know about Kamen Riders?”

“They’re heroes too, so I’ve done a lot of research about them before.”

“Then can you help us?”

“With what?”

“Both Chika and I aren’t exactly the most experienced with hero stuff, so we need someone as knowledgeable as you to come along with us!”

Chika added onto You’s statement and said, “plus, you're just such a cutie!”

You turned to Chika and replied, “That’s not the point! But she’s right!”

“Is it really fine for me to help out?”

“Of course it is, you don't look like anyone against us, so we’re on your side.”

“Which speaking of, are you busy right now, Ruby-chan?”

“Umm, I’m not.”

“Then do you wanna go out for tea?” Chika beamed up with joy after hearing Ruby’s answer and wanted to make an offer, “If you're joining us then we gotta know each other some more~!”

“Chika-chan?! We just met her, yet you’re acting like we’re all best friends!”

“It’ll be fine! All that matters is what she decides.”

“Alright then…! It's fine with me!”

“Really? Yay!”

You asked Chika, “Do you know any good places nearby?”

“I don't think I do, but maybe Ruby-chan does.”

“There's this one place I know, if you're interested.”

“You do? What's the name?”  
Chika grew intrigued.

“Shougetsu… I think that's the name!”

You replied, “I never heard of that one, but sure, why not? Do you know the way?”

Ruby responded, “No, but I have a map with me. We can follow it!”

“There's no time to waste,” Chika placed both of her hands at her hips and then said, “so let's get a move on!”

“Yeah!” You exclaimed.

“...Yay!” Ruby shouted.

Ruby may have been a person Chika and You would have never expected to know before today, but after this conversation they all became closer to each other, and with that, onwards they went to a cafe named Shougetsu.

* * *

Shougetsu, the place where the three girls went, was a place in Uchiura commonly known for its confectionery, so when they went into the mostly empty building and was greeted by a menu, Ruby showed You and Chika what she knew.

“Ruby-chan! What would you recommend?”  
They were all by the store counter, checking what they wanted to eat, and Chika was the one who was most curious about what would be the best thing to buy.

“I usually get one of the fruit tarts whenever I come here, but anything here is good.”

Chika looked at the menu for a bit longer and something caught her eye.  
“You-chan, look at this~! This Mikan dorayaki looks great!”

“Hm, that one does seem like something you’d like. You should get it!”

You knew just how much Chika liked mikans, so when she saw what she had in mind, it being a round pancake with a red bean and mikan filling in the center, it was clear that Chika and the dorayaki were soulmates, forever bound in destiny. All that had to be decided now was what You wanted to get.

After a short while You couldn't find anything in particular that caught her eye, so she consulted Ruby on what to do next.

“Ruby-chan, have you tried the shortcake from here yet?”

“Hm? Yeah, I have.”

“How is it?”

“Personally I think it tastes nice.”

“Really?”

“Mhm, the dough’s really fluffy and the cream’s sweet too~”

“That sounds good… I’ll get it. Thanks!” You had a smile on her face after she made her decision.

Ruby, Chika, and You all went to the counter to start getting their food after they all decided once and for all.  
After getting into a table, You and Ruby sat on one side and Chika sat on the other. They did what could be considered as the ‘usual’, ordering food and drinks; what would be expected for people to do at a cafe. When they got their orders placed onto the brown table they were sitting at, they started off talking where they left off.

You looked at Ruby and asked, “Didn't you say earlier that you were an expert about hero stuff or something?”

“Well, I have been interested in it for a while, so I’d say that I know about it more than anyone!”

Ruby had a grin on a face. It was clear to both Chika and You that she was passionate about this topic.

Chika then asked, "But how did you know what You-chan had to do earlier today?”

“I just went with what I heard before…You-chan, what was that thing you said when you were fighting?”

“I said something like ‘Yellow Striker’ when that happened, I didn't know anything else.”

“You didn't know anything else?”

“When I said Chika-chan and I didn't know much about all of this I wasn't kidding, that fight was my first one.”

Chika said, “Hey, I know more than you think!”

You retorted with doubt, “You do?”

“Well…” Chika looked down at the table as she tried to think up of an answer.

“It's not exactly a bad thing to be inexperienced at something, Chika-chan,” Ruby said, after noticing her discontent expression.

“But we both have to be experts, right? To beat Guilty Kiss!” Chika looked at You and placed her arm on You’s shoulder.

“Not exactly…”

“You-chan’s right, you know. If you don't know a lot, it just means you have more to learn, and if you have more to learn you’ll have more fun!”

Chika said, “We’ll have more fun?”

“Yeah, you’ll have fun! If you like doing this, you’ll have fun! When I do research on heroes, like on those Kamen Riders and different types of weapons, it can be fun seeing what you never knew before!”

“We really will have more fun like that, huh?” Chika looked toward both Ruby and You, making a statement to the both of them.

“That's what's got me going this whole time!” Ruby said.

“Having fun is why I did this in the first place, Chika-chan!” You replied.

“You guys both had the same motivation, it does sound nice.”

You said, “Yeah, even if we don't beat them, if we have fun and do our best, that's what matters most.”

“Ruby-chan?”

Chika glanced at Ruby with a feeling of suspense.

“Hm?”

“You said you had fun learning about new things, right?”

“I did, what about it?”

“What You-chan and I are doing right now, it's like nothing we’ve seen before! New things are popping up all around us!” Chika suddenly stood up from her seat, lifted up her hand, and reached it out towards Ruby, then saying, “Would you like to join… and learn about it with us?”

“Pigii!”

You was surprised by Chika’s gesture and said, “Chika-chan, is it really alright to push her into this so soon?”

“I’m not forcing her to do it, she said it herself that she liked new things, and besides, we need another person with us if we wanna be a good team!”

“Ehm, Ruby-chan, what do you think?”

“...”

Ruby looked into You’s eyes and began to think. All three of them were silent until Ruby gave her answer.

“I… I… sure, I’ll join you!”

“You will??”

Chika was overjoyed to hear this. Her eyes glimmered from knowing this alone, and her spirit picked up in a split second.

“It does sound like fun, and I want to help you too!”

You stood up along with Chika and said, “In that case leave it to us, we won't let you down.”

“You heard her! There's nothing to lose, I’m sure you won't regret it.”

“I won't regret it?”

“I bet you won't, on my life!”  
You looked down at the empty dishes and then looked back up. She put her arm by her head and smiled as she said,  
“Hey, shouldn't we leave by now?”

“Do we have to? We still have a lot to talk about!” Chika replied.

Ruby said, “I read this one sign when we came in, I think this place should be closing soon.”

“It did? How much time do we have left?”

“I’d say an hour or so?”

“In that case we better get going, we still got a whole lot to do,” You said.

* * *

Once the check was all paid they all left the cafe. After a good while of walking away from Shougetsu and into the sidewalk Chika asked,  
“So, what should we do now?”

“Maybe we should return home? There's still a lot to do, but it's getting a bit late.”  
Ruby looked into the street after answering and said right after that, “Wait a minute! H...How should I contact you guys after this?”

You answered, “Let me give you my number, you can reach me from there.”

Chika said, “I’ll give you mine too!”

They exchanged phone numbers for a few minutes and then stood as they were before.

Ruby said, “I’ll be going for now, ehm, thanks for letting me join your team!”

Chika answered, “No problem! We’re super happy to be friends with you too!”

 _...friends…_  
A thought resonated in not only You, but Ruby’s mind, and they looked at each other.

“Bye, Ruby-chan! Until we meet again, see you then!”

“Bye, You-chan! Bye, Chika-chan!”  
Ruby ran off to her left, leaving in a flash, and she was unable to be seen after that.

A moment passed,  
“If she's leaving then perhaps I’ll leave too? See you later, Chika-chan!”  
and then You left as well, leisurely walking off into the distance.

“See you soon!”

Chika was the last one to leave, but the feelings that left with her were not made in sorrow.  
The two girls who wished to defend the Shine turned to three, and the seeds of friendship soon began to blossom.


	7. Marks on a Blank Slate

_“Ruby-chan! You wanted to go out with those two?”_

_“Pigii!”_

_“Could you imagine what our parents would think to themselves if they knew you were going off with some imbeciles you barely know?”_

_“T...They’re nice people!”_

_Ruby sat on a small pillow beside a small table, among the presence of a tall dark haired woman who just so happened to be her older sister, Dia._  
_Ever since they were young she has kept watch over what Ruby wanted to do, as their parents were often gone because of their long work hours. With that, Ruby was trapped in the same situation she has been in countless times before. The one in which she’d have to wheedle her way through and get her sister’s permission to follow her dreams._

“Nice people? What are they like?”

“They like the same things I do, and they're both girls around the same age I am, I just like them!”

“Just imagine the trouble you could get into because of your ‘friends’, how would you feel?”

“Ruby thinks—I think that it’s better to try than do nothing!” Ruby cleared her throat as she was already beginning to get flustered. After waiting a while to clear her head she said, “I know that you’ve made friends of your own too.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, until now you’ve been gone for, like–”

Dia pounded her fist on the table and sternly glared into Ruby’s eyes.

“We don't speak of that.”

“Huh?”

“I said it, and I mean it,” Dia then calmed herself down, easing her voice slightly as she said, “...fine. Even when we were children you have been acting this way. Questioning authority when you had no other choice. I don't have anything more to say.”

“Onee-chan…”

“You heard me, if you won't mention my leave any longer I will make an exception, and you can go. But you better be careful.”

“You’ll let me go? Really?? Thank you, thank you! I won't let you down!”

Ruby ran off to her room before Dia could say anything else, hardly able to wait even a moment before starting to get prepared for an outing with Chika and You.

* * *

Ruby sat in a red bench, following a plan set by the two friends she had met about a week prior to this event. Chika Takami and You Watanabe.  
According to their words, she would have to wait a few minutes or so before they came. With all the time there was to kill, she decided to do a little daydreaming. There wasn't much to think about, her mind still dreary from the thought of actually being able to be here, so all she could do is wonder what the two other girls were thinking. Not about any particular moment, but rather what there were thinking now; if they were looking forward to this, or if they doubted coming here in the first place.  
She thought about this and various other things for a few minutes or so, until she heard two voices yelling from the distance.

“CHIKA-CHAN!! WE’RE GONNA CRASH!”

“NO WE’RE NOT, I’LL HANDLE IT!”

Ruby saw Chika and You riding on a bicycle, with Chika operating it and You sitting down right on top of her.  
You kept on shaking as the bike toppled from side to side repeatedly, as if her weight was the reason why Chika was losing her coordination.  
Chika had a determined yet angered expression not only on her face but also from her extremely tense legs, quivering as they quickly turned the pedals, spontaneously falling off and having to get back on again.  
Together, Chika and You were on a bike that was on the verge of falling to the ground along with them.

* * *

“RUBY?!”

“WE BETTER STOP SOON!”

“CHIKA-CHAN! PUSH ON THE BRAKES!!”

“AAAAAAH!!”

As the two nearly approached the edge of the road, Chika pushed the brake on the bike, and after a while of decelerating it stopped, a split second away from crashing.  
You, however, was not so lucky and fell down right next to the bike. Chika quickly took out her hand and held it towards her, saying “Are you alright?” while she was at it.

“Yeah,” You held onto Chika’s hand tightly and stood herself up, “I’m alright.”

“You are? That's great!”

You stood back for a second or two and then turned to Chika and faced her in the eye, “We should get moving though, it looks like Ruby can still see us from here.”

“You're right! Do you wanna run?”

“Sure, we have nothing to lose!”

Chika stood back along with You and then the both of them dashed forward along the road’s edge. Their hair blew in the mild wind as they ran, and after a minute of running passed and the road split off into sidewalk, Chika stopped running and walked instead, wanting to look around. You then stopped next, as she moved to where Chika was and walked along with her.

“Now, where could Ruby-chan be? I swear I saw her somewhere.”

“Chika-chan! Look to your left, she’s right over there.”

“Ah, you're right.”

“Let’s keep on moving a bit more!”

You ran towards to road to greet Ruby at the bench, with Chika following her.  
They both stood on opposite sides of the bench, and Ruby stood up towards the middle.

“Ruby-chan! Thanks for coming over here.”

“D...Don't mention it, You-chan. Though I saw you and Chika-chan having some problems with a bike earlier,” Ruby turned towards Chika for the rest of her question, “How did it go? Are you guys alright?”

“Uh..”

“I was hoping you didn't see that, but we’re totally fine, right, Chika-chan?”

“Yeah, what You-chan said!”

Ruby looked at You and asked, “That's good! I was getting worried for a moment. Anyways, what did you want to get together for?”

“About that!”  
You and Chika moved to the center of the bench, in front of Ruby. You stuck out her index finger and said,  
“Well, I was thinking of getting together and hanging out at my house. I don't think my dad would mind some extra visitors coming around.”

Chika explained, “besides, the Shine You-chan was talking about earlier was stored away in one of her cabinets, so if you wanna look at it, it’ll be over there.”

“Really? I don't mind where we go, we can go to your place!”

“I don't mind either, let’s get on going!”

“Already?”

“Yeah, already! Who knows how long we’ll take?”

“Alright, let's go!”  
You backed away from the bench so Ruby can move out from it, and then the three girls started moving towards You’s house.

* * *

When they arrived at the door, You was greeted by a green sheet of paper on the ground.

_If you’re coming into the house don't knock on the door, I’m not here. Just come in and tell me whenever you do._

“My mom hasn't been here in a while, so it looks like this house is all alone. Just wait a minute, I should call my dad first.”

A minute or so passed and after that the call was over. You hung up the phone and opened the locked door with her keys, then inviting Chika and Ruby in.

“It really is all alone… that's a bit odd.”

“From what I know You seems to be alone pretty often, Ruby-chan. Though that means we’ll be able to take down that shine with no worries!”

You walked into the house last and then said, “He shouldn't be back home in a while, so if we need to talk about anything we can do it now. Which speaking of, Ruby-chan! There's something I want to show you.”

You sprinted to her room, and Chika and Ruby followed her lead, although at a slightly slower pace.  
You opened up the cupboard and took out the yellow crystal she had in mind.  
Ruby entered the room and stood by a wall by the door, with Chika behind her. She asked, “What did you want me to see?”

“It was… this!” You placed the Shine in her hands, as it shined with all its radiance.

“Uwaaah, it’s so shiny!”

“Yep! That was what I used to transform a while back!”

“So you really are a Kamen Rider… that's too cool!”  
Ruby had a spark in her eyes from the moment she saw that crystal, her eyes lighting up in fascination.  
“This is the first time I’ve seen one of these up close… it's just as bright as I’ve imagined it!!”

“Do you want to see how it works?”

“For real? It’d be nice if you did!”

“Alright then, I’ll get on going!”

You picked up the Shine again and turned it on its bottom.

“If you put your finger on this little hole and shout out a few certain words, you’ll be able to transform. Watch me do it and you’ll see it all in action!”

You placed the Shine on her finger and did a cool pose to accompany her _**“Zenzoku zenshin!”**_ for dramatic effect, and when she felt the suit fully placed on her she said, **_“Yousoro~!”_**

“That's really cool, You-chan!”

“It's nothing, really.”

  
Chika moved a bit closer to the center of the room and intervened as You replied to Ruby, exclaiming, “Wait a minute! I was thinking, we gotta get some cool roles for ourselves before we do anything else! If we wait even a moment I might forget..”

“Do you have anything else you wanted to do, You-chan?”

“Hmm… not really, though it’d be nice to have a plan either way.”

“Then you're in luck!”  
Chika took out a small notebook in a split second just as You finished her response, holding it right in front of her as she handed it to Ruby.

“How did you get that?”

“Don't question it, You-chan~ What's important now is what we want to do!”  
Chika had a smirk on her face as her head got closer to You’s.

You then moved over to the table near them and sat down.  
“Well, what do you want to do?”

“Umm…” Chika walked over to the table and sat down as she tried to think up of an answer.

“Ruby has a— I have an idea!”  
Ruby was the last to sit down. She held a red pillow in her arms as she mentioned her suggestion.  
“Chika-chan, when I heard You-chan fighting, weren't you supporting her instead of fighting too?”

“You-chan’s the only one here with powers and stuff, so yeah.”

“Then you can be like a leader! I read a bunch of stuff earlier and I think you’d be perfect as one!”

“A leader~? That sounds like fun!”

You turned to Chika and exclaimed, “Mhm! Besides, you were the one who started this, it makes total sense!”

“She was?”

“This all started when Chika-chan showed me that shine… it couldn't have happened without her.”

“Chika-chan really is like a leader then! What do you think?”

“...” Chika had a nervous grin on her face, and after a short while of silence she said, “well, uh, I’ll be the leader then!”

“You will?”

“I don't know if I’ll do great, but I’ll try my hardest, Ruby-chan!”

You raised her voice a little and then exclaimed, “well, now we only have two more left! Who should we go through next?”

Ruby said, “Wait! I have an idea!”

“What is it?”

“You-chan! I was thinking, you said I knew more about heroes than you did, right?”

“Mhm, what about it?”

“There was this one thing in a guide, like a strategist, and it was just like this! Can I do it?”

“I don't see why not. Chika-chan, what do you think?”

“I think you’d be just great for it!”

“Yay! Now we only have one more left! You-chan!”

“Yeah, yeah! I have an idea too!”

“What were you thinking? I wanna hear.”

“I’m the one who can fight in this group, so I’ll do that!”

“Seems fair! I got it written down!”  
Ruby looked down on the small notebook in front of her.

You looked at Ruby’s paper and asked, “You were writing our jobs down this whole time?!”

“Of course! I’m our strategist, after all~”

“You haven't even started your job yet!...but good thinking!”

“I did my Rubesty!”

You headed over to where Chika and Ruby were, and she looked at the paper as well.

“So you really did do it..”

The plans were all written out. The page was completely filled up, with the words stating:  
**Chika: Ultimate Leader (The one to rely on)**  
**You: Abundant Strength (The one who fights)**  
**Ruby: Strategist to Oblivion (The one who knows more stuff)**

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s great!” Chika looked up from the table and laid down on the ground. “But should we do anything else from here?”

The table started to shake as soon as Chika finished her sentence.  
Nothing else from the room was shaking, just the table was.

“Do you guys hear something?”  
Ruby poked at the area of the table where Chika was sitting down at.

“Hmm…” The table stopped for a moment. “Not really…”

“I swear there was something like a minute ago—”

A small pink shard from the table broke out from one of its legs and fell down to the ground. Shooting out from the middle, the table fell down along with it.  
Ruby picked it up.

“Doesn't this look a bit familiar?”

After taking a look at the shard, You got up from the table and walked over to the cupboard.

“Are you gonna get something?”

“Wait a moment, you’ll see!”

You got back to the broken table and handed over the crystal to Ruby.

“I was thinking, the two look a bit like they could be related or something.”

Both the Shine and this unnamed shard shined in a similar way, shining brighter than the light in the room and both having similar colors.

“Pigii! Should I do something with it?”

“What about trying to transform with it?”

“Wouldn't this mean that if it worked I would be a hero too?”

“I guess so! Well, there's only one way to test it out, so go ahead!”

“Umm… uhh…”  
Ruby’s hand quivered while holding the shard. She stood up and moved to a free space in the room, and after she gained her composure...  
_**“Kyou mo ichinichi—”**_

Her body warmed up and the suit gradually embraced her. Forming around her, moving into place in a similar fashion to pixels popping up one by one, when it was complete Ruby said,  
**_“Ganbaruby!"_**  
and the suit locked into place.

“Woah! How did you figure it so fast?”

“I just said the first thing that came to mind, hehe… but how do I look?”

Ruby’s suit was similar to You’s, but instead of her dull yellow stripes Ruby had bright pink stripes on her instead, with a solid pink armor plate covering her back.  
After a moment at looking around on it, Chika moved behind Ruby and pointed her index finger at where the back of her suit was.

“You look great, but I think there's something extra written on the back! Can I see?” You answered.

“Um, sure..! What is it?”

“There’s some letters that say Kamen Rider Blaze on it, could that be your name?”

“I think... so that's my name? Is it like that Shine thing?”

“Yeah, just like that!”

“That's cool!” Ruby smiled at You and looked at her with her determined eyes, “So, I’ll be with you in battle, right?”

“I guess you will! Do you think you’ll need to get some practice before battle?”

“I'm pretty sure I will, but if not I’ll do what I know from some battles I’ve seen!”

“Huh? Battles? What are they like?”

“They’re like the battle you fought in, but they're the ones done by professionals.”

“Professional heroes… it’ll be a while before either of us can be called a professional.”

“Yeah, but we can always go into battle and do our best! I’m sure it’ll be scary, but it’ll be worth it.”

Chika turned to her front and asked, “So we have the Shine and Blaze now... will you two be fighting together?”

Ruby replied, “You-chan said we will!”

“Then do you wanna go out and see what we’ll do next? This is pretty big news, you know!”

“Is it really that big, Chika-chan?”

“Of course it is! We’re one step closer to being a great team!”

“I guess so? Hopefully we are...”

“I’m sure we are! Now, we can't wait any longer for something like this, can we?” Chika backed away from Ruby and took a deep breath, pumping her fist in the air as she said, “Let's get out there... and show Uchiura what we're made of!”


	8. With the Help of a Hop, Step, and Jump...!

“You-chan?! Why are you taking us out here like this?!”

Chika attempted to reach out to You, but she didn't respond to her, only running faster as she grasped even tighter onto Chika and Ruby’s hands.  
They were on the road right in front of You’s house, moving forward into what seems like nowhere. Having started moving solely based off of pure intuition, there was no telling what could happen next.

“Didn't you feel the house shake? First the table, and now this; something’s going on for sure, and we gotta find out what it is!”

“S-Something's going on??” Ruby began to grow more nervous as she said, “Like what? An earthquake? A monster??”

“Maybe?”  
…  
“Pigii!! Look over there!”

You and the others came to a halt as they approached a wide white wall which was moving closer to the middle of the road.

“W-What is that thing? Why is it moving like that??”

“Could it be…?”  
Chika moved closer to the wall and exclaimed,  
“I got it! That magical moving wall, it’s another one of those monsters, right?”

The wall slowly approached them, and the ground shaked once again.

Chika turned her head and looked up at the top of the wall, exclaiming,  
“Hello~? Mr. Wall? Is that you~?”

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows as she lightly tapped Chika’s shoulder.

“Chika-chan?”

“Trust me, this will work!”  
Chika waved her hands in the wall’s direction.  
“Mr. Wall~? Are you the person who’s making the ground shake?”

A sound came from the wall.  
“Mr. Wall? I...I don't know anyone by that name!”

“Mr. Wall? You can talk? I had no idea walls could talk! You must be a special kind of wall or something!”

“...I’m not actually a wall…”  
The “wall” grew increasingly anxious.

“You're not actually a wall? Then who are you?”

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone, zura!”

“Why not?”

“Well, some person magically turned me into a wall and told me that I was just supposed to stay like this until some pretty girls came and fought me…”

You joined the conversation.  
“Are we those pretty girls you're talking about?”

“Possibly? It's not like I would know, but all of you are so cute that I’d believe it!”

“Alright, then what would happen if we fought with you? Would you return back to normal?”

“If I’m not wrong I think I would, zura! Are you saying that you three can help?”

“Chika-chan, what do you think?”

“The wall seems harmless to me… what could possibly go wrong?”

“In that case it looks like you’ll have some new opponents!”  
You gleefully smiled towards the empty wall, crossing her arms as she awaited her response.

“Really? That's so great, thank you, thank you!!”

“No problem, Wall-san! Should we get to it right now?”

“Right now?! Sure, just don't expect me to be very great at fighting; this wall thing I'm in is just so heavy that I can barely move at all, zura...”

Chika slowly moved over a bit closer to the wall.  
“That doesn't matter much though, Mr. Wall, didn't you say that you just wanted to be a person again? Wouldn't that mean that we just need to fight you until you turn to your normal self?”

“Hmm, now that you mention it you're right!”

“Exactly! So, You-chan, Ruby-chan, what do you say? Are you feeling ready?”

As if they have practiced for this moment before, Ruby and You swiftly let out their opposing hands in the wall’s direction and said,  
“Of course we are!”

“Then let's get to it!”  
Chika moved down to in the middle of them and held her fists to her chest passionately.

“Woah, you guys are like real heroes or something!!”

“That's because we are real heroes, Wall-san! And we're going full steam ahead at it too!”

“Pigii! She's right! Just watch this!”

Ruby looked back at You while she took a step forward, smiling as she said to her,  
“You-chan, let's do our Rubesty!”

 **“Kyou mo ichinichi…”**  
**“Zenzoku zenshin…”**

Ruby and You placed themselves nearly back to back as they firmly held onto the crystals they needed to transform.

 **“Ganbaruby!”**  
**“Yousoro!”**

After a few moments the two suits finally fell into place.

“It's the future, zura!! How did you even do that?”

“The future? I don't know what you mean by that, but the point’s that now we’re gonna get you back to normal!”

“Alright, um, what should I do?”

Ruby answered, “I think you said before that all we have to do is attack you for a while, but do you need to do anything?”

“That lady who told me about all of this said nothing about that, zura..”

“Then why don't we see what happens and go from there, Wall-chan?”

“Your plan sounds great, zura! Why don't you try it out?”

Ruby looked at the wall straight at the “eye” and said,  
“umm… _**BLAZING.. IMPACT!!”**_  
She then proceeded to yell out the first command she thought up of, aiming and shooting the ball of flames that came from the palms of her hands straight in front of her.  
“Like that?”

“Zura-!”  
It hopped and took a “step” forward.  
“I’m sure this will work!”

“Alrighty then, Ruby-chan, let's keep on going! Let me give it a try!”  
Ruby walked over to Chika as You moved more towards the wall and prepared to attack.  
_**"SHINING SUN!"**_  
You’s crystal shattered into a barricade of shards pointing towards the wall, shooting at the wall.

“Any better, Wall-san?”

“...”

“Hm?”

The shards deflected off the wall.

“That was so cool…! But I don't think it did very much.”

“Should we do something else?”

“If you keep on trying things will work out, hard work always pays off, zura!”

“You-chan?”

You turned to Chika, whose voice was echoing out from the edge of the empty space.

“What is it?”

“What would happen… if I punched it?”

“You want to punch the wall?”

“Yeah! Or I can kick it!”

“Do you think that's what they meant when they said they wanted us to attack them?”

“Maybe! They never said which way so I just thought both magic and physical stuff would work!”

“In that case,” You turned and diverted her attention to the wall and then asked, “Wall-san, do you know if anything will happen if we punch you?”

“I have no clue what would happen if you did that, but you can certainly try, zura!”

“I knew it!” Chika grew an innocent grin on her face as she let out her brief moment of accomplishment.  
“I’ll just give it a go then!”

“Pigii! Aren't you going to hurt yourself if you try to punch Wall-chan?”

“...I never told you this, but I just so happen to be a black belt in karate! I’ll be fine!

“No way!”

“Yes way!”  
Chika then asked the wall, “So, can I get started?”

The wall seemed to have an impartial, yet intrigued, tone to her voice as she exclaimed, “You can do it now if you want to, zura.”

“Yay!”  
Chika approached the edge of the area and calmly began to lower her stance. After her preparations she then dashed and leaped up to the wall and performed a roundhouse kick. She seemingly bounced off the wall into the hard concrete and for a second or two nothing happened, until the wall started to shake yet again.

“..!!!”

The wall suddenly crumbled into the ground out of nowhere, revealing a young girl behind the pile of white powder separating Chika, You, and Ruby from her.

“It worked!”

“I knew it would!!”  
Chika held up her fist in front of her face as she stood in her pride, You and Ruby still looking onward as bystanders.

“I wasn't expecting a kick to work, but now that it did, thank you, zura!!”

“No problem! But if you're not a wall anymore, who are you, Mr. Wall?”

“If there's no one stopping me from saying it anymore… I’m Hanamaru Kunikida, zura!”

“That name is adorable!! I’m Chika Takami, the biggest mikan lover there is!”

You ran up to Hanamaru as she planned to say her introduction as well.

“If Chika’s going ahead with introductions I’ll do mine too. I’m You Watanabe!” You pointed at Chika as she nonchalantly rested her arm on Chika’s shoulder.  
“We two have been friends for a good while now, so I guess we're pretty close!”

“That's pretty interesting, zura! You know, I have a childhood friend too; it makes me wonder if maybe you know her, You-san.”

“Maybe we do, maybe we don't, the world will never know..! Hehe~” answered Chika.

You turned behind her to Ruby and then faced back at the wall. Ruby started walking forward to be with everyone and after she was next to You, Hanamaru asked, ”So, what’s your name?”

“Pigii! Uh, I’m Ruby Kurosawa, what's yours?”

“I’m Hanamaru Kunikida, zura! I think we’re gonna get along well too~”

“I hope so! You sound so sweet already!”

Ruby placed the palms of her hands on her face as she looked down at the ground for a split second. It was at that moment while she looked back up at everyone else when she saw a white folded piece of paper hiding in the corner of the mound of powder that still remained of the wall.  
She took a moment to stroll over to the sheet and pick it up, then moving back over to where she was standing to tell the others of her discovery.

“Ah, Hanamaru-san, is this paper yours?”

Chika replied, “There was a paper?!”

“Oh yeah! That pretty lady I was telling you all about earlier… she told me to send you that, zura!”

“Open it up, Ruby-chan!”

“Yeah, see what it says!”

“Alright..”  
Ruby stared down at the paper as she unfolded it. After that, she started to read everything that was written down out loud the best she could, while leaving the paper out so everyone else could read it as well.

 _“Shiny~!_  
_If you're reading this paper then it must mean you’ve found Hanamaru-chan. Congratulations. But don't worry, Guilty Kiss isn't letting any of you out this easy so don't get your hopes up. We’ll be seeing you soon, and we’ll all be sure to take you down when we meet again. Yoshiko-chan, Riko-chan, and I have been preparing for this moment ever since we fought a short while back, and now we’re stronger than ever before! Though as for who will win… we’ll have to see that part when the time comes☆_  
_Ciao!-_  
_Mari Ohara”_

“Well that was quite some letter.”

“Yeah, she must really mean it!”

You and Chika immediately began to talk amongst themselves before Ruby could get in a word with Hanamaru.

“Hanamaru-san, do you know these people?”

“I’ve never heard of these names in my life… have you?”

“No, I have no clue who they are either… should I ask Chika-chan and You-chan about them?”

“Maybe you should, this seems like important stuff, zura.”

“Alright then, let's go.”  
Ruby took Hanamaru’s hand and grabbed onto it as she walked over to the other two girls.

Once they both got there shortly later she tapped on Chika’s shoulder to get her attention.  
Chika turned over to Ruby once she noticed and asked, “Hm?”

“Chika-chan, do you know who the people that Mari-san mentioned in that letter are?”

“Oh, them? You know Guilty Kiss, right?”

“I’ve heard you say that name a few times..”

“They’re a group of people who are against You-chan and me.”

You added onto Chika’s response soon after with, “Yeah, so basically Yoshiko, Riko, and Mari are the ones we’re trying to fight off.”

“So that's who they are..” Ruby paused for a second and then continued, “what do you think of them, Hanamaru-san?”

“I don't know much about everyone yet, but I hope they're not as bad as Chika-san said.”

“In that case, do you want to come with us when we fight them next time?” asked Chika.

“Zura?! Maybe? I don't know if I would have time to go but I can certainly try.”

“Then just come if you see us around, I’m sure it would be fun!”

“A-Alright, thanks!”

You assured her, saying, “Yeah, I’m sure we all think that!”

“That sounds good, zura!– but now that I think about it I’ll have to go, I’m gonna be late!”

“Late? For what?” inquired Chika.

“I don't know what for, but I have to go somewhere, zura..!”  
Hanamaru started running off right in front of where she was standing, but then turned around and started sprinting over the opposite direction.  
“Bye, guys! It was nice meeting you!!”

“See you later!”  
“Bye!”  
“See you soon!!”

* * *

“Hanamaru… that girl was interesting.”

“Zura. I wonder what that means,” said Chika, to Ruby.

“Isn't that word in a dialect or something?”

You said, “Thinking about it, that would make sense. I’ll have to ask her about that some time.”

_Some time..._


	9. "Our Only Choice"

Hanamaru stood in front of the door, her knees shaking, address in hand as she checked and made sure she was in the right place.  
At this place that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, all that surrounded her were the tall trees which were enveloped in a fog, accompanying the murky grey sky and scarce amounts of grass, with any noises nearby being masked by a light downpour of rain.  
She was there a few minutes later than anticipated, yet all she could think about was the reactions of her colleagues. They were surely waiting for her. After all this time, this several month hiatus of theirs, they were to meet up with each other and discuss all there needed to be done next.  
With these thoughts in mind, she slowly took steps closer to the temple’s entrance, and knocked on the door, waiting for the response she needed all along.

One,  
Two,  
Three.

The time was all she could think about, all that she missed, everything she might have to do. All she wanted was for that door to open, her desire seeming as if it were a gateway to some sort of alternate world she would find in a book.  
She could hear muffled voices coming from the building, but it wasn't until those voices got any closer that she could understand them.

Hanamaru sensed footsteps approaching.  
All she could wonder now is who would come… in the end, it could only be one person or the other.  
The door creaked as a tall blue haired figure appeared from the other side.

“Ah, Hanamaru-chan! You finally came!”

“Did I miss too much, zura?”

“Not at all, we were just getting our preparations out of the way, but there's still things we have to do now,” the young woman looked behind the entrance into the adjacent room and then added, “Come on in, Dia-chan’s been waiting to see you too.”

Kanan swung the door open and then went into the house, Hanamaru then going in as well.

“So, what have you two been doing?”

“Let's see, we still have to get a few–”

“Kanan-san? Hanamaru-san?”  
A tall, black haired woman stood by a wall in the living room, turning away from it as soon as she noticed them approach her.

“Dia-san!”

“Kanan-san and I have been waiting for you for this long.. what could have possibly stopped you from coming earlier?”

“Ah, well, I was walking here from the other side of town, and I couldn't help but not notice the time…”

“You haven't changed a bit since we last gathered along here, haven't you?”

Kanan replied, “But that's not the point now, we still have work to do, so Hanamaru-chan can still help us out with that.”

“Then what should I do next, zura?”

Kanan led Hanamaru over to the edge of the room and pointed at the left side of the floor, “Let's see, we have some forms over on this side,” she then pointed at the other side of the floor, “and… ah, I thought there was some papers here too, but I guess Kanan and I already got those sorted out. In that case, those papers over there should be all there's left to do now.”

“Should I get back with you and Dia-san once I’m done?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Got it!”

Kanan walked away from Hanamaru as she started off with the papers, and discussed with Dia about what to do next.

Hanamaru sat down on the floor as she looked through everything there was, from a collection of hero magazines to group contracts; it was all like a reaffirmation of how the group has grown apart, yet still remained close. Despite the months spent hardly interacting at all, Kanan and Dia had already started talking like they were good friends, and Hanamaru had begun to do the same to them as well. In this state, she had drifted into her own thoughts from the pile of papers yet again, not paying any attention to the conversation in the background.  
She mindlessly checked and crossed her way through it all, writing down names in all the blanks and words in every space that needed them, until a paper that slid through the cracks finally fell into plain sight, catching Hanamaru’s attention.

**_You're next._ **

Surely it was only a coincidence.

Hanamaru folded up the paper and hastily put it in her back pocket, as if she had done anything else something indescribable would happen. She straightened out all the papers she had just completed looking through and sent them over, like nothing has happened just before.

Her smile grew back as soon as quickly as it faded, Hanamaru then going over to Dia in the hopes of seeing what progress she and Kanan have made.

“Dia-san?”  
She looked into her emerald eyes, moving closer to her before she said soon after,  
“I got some papers checked through, zura. Is there something should do next?”

“I wasn't expecting to see you this soon, but since Kanan-san and I should be finishing up what we are doing at the moment soon I think you’d be fine waiting until we're done.”

“...Alright, thanks, Dia-san!”

* * *

 

Hanamaru found an empty spot on the floor and then sat down. Next to her were two other seats and a table right in front. She focused her attention on seeing Kanan and Dia’s actions, watching as they carried over several empty boxes and placed them into a spare corner of the room. Those same actions carried on as the number of boxes surrounding the area grew smaller and smaller, until the two girls took a moment to catch their breath.

From the background those same familiar voices sounded…  
“All those boxes are now back in their place, huh?”

“I suppose so. I don't see any more around here,”  
and so, they both headed off to where Hanamaru had been waiting, their preparations finally set up.

Kanan faced above Hanamaru, sitting down on a small pillow she found as she exclaimed, “Hanamaru-chan! You know, something tells me that you’ve been thinking about just what we came here for.”

“Um, wasn't it to talk about the machine that came around here a few days ago?”

“Yeah, that. But also about who could have made it, since that's the important part.”

“Did it have anything written on it, zura?”

“I think I saw an article online mention the name, but all I remember now is that it started with a G…” Kanan turned her head up as she placed her finger below it, saying from the back of her mind, “or a K? Any of those.”

“A G, or a K?”

“Exactly.”

G… K…  
Guilty… Kiss?  
As fast as a flash of lightning the name came upon her. She had just barely noticed the initials from the name she had stumbled on from the three “heroines” she had met a while prior, but now that it was in her thoughts, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

“Maybe I know it, zura!”

“Wait, what?”

“You said that it started with a G or a K, didn't you? I heard of this one name that started with both of them.”

“What is it?”

“Guilty Kiss!”

“Guilty Kiss? That name does seem familiar…”

“I just heard about them a while back and it seems like it would fit! Apparently they're evil or something so it’d make sense if they had a machine on them, right?”

“We can't say for certain yet, but it's better than the explanation I have.”

“An explanation? What exactly could that be?” Dia stood behind her as she had just walked over from a table close to the edge of the room moments before.

Kanan turned herself to Dia as she remarked, “I was thinking that maybe the machine was built for some kind of other reason yet broke down out of nowhere, but if it was built by an organization like Hanamaru-chan said then it could easily have been done on purpose instead.”

Dia sat herself down along with the others as she answered, “Heh. That's an odd one, coming from someone as cautious as yourself.”

“But, that's not really Kanan-san's choice to make,” Hanamaru remarked out of nowhere, the response coming as a result of Dia’s doubt.

“Yeah, we don't exactly have an option when it comes to this; nonetheless, we have to do something to stop it!”

“And how would we do that?” Dia asked.

“Maybe we could ask some people who saw this for themselves, zura!”

“I heard that the people who destroyed that machine live close by, so we could have some luck with them.”

“Are you saying that you know where they are?”

“Not really… but we’re bound to find a different machine like that some time or another.”

Dia had a more stern look on her face than usual, looking towards Kanan as she asserted, “Surely it would be far too dangerous to go out and look for deadly beings, though. Do you really believe we would be able to fend it off?”

“What could we do other than that? How could we possibly go about this, other than looking for it ourselves?”

“Please, Dia-san!” Hanamaru positioned the palms of her hands together as she lowered her head, pleading, _“It’s our only choice!”_


	10. Searching for Light

_What did I do to get myself into this situation?_

Dia pondered upon this thought as she stuck with Hanamaru and Kanan further into their excursion, staying still as the quiet ambience filled her head.

_Who were they looking for… what were they looking for?_

What seemed like a second ago they were still in the small temple planning out their meeting, yet now they were in a situation completely unlike that; it all played out so quickly that now she could barely remember what happened the moment before. It was surely a search of sorts, to find the supposed enemy Hanamaru told her and Kanan about, but other than that she had no clue what would happen next.  
All she knew now was that she had to make sure their spontaneity didn't land all of them into utter disaster as they attempted to conceal themselves behind a large garbage can.

“Dia-san? Did you hear what I asked?”

...and now was the moment where Dia got forced out of the drift that was her own thoughts. She shook her head side to side in an attempt to gain back her energy and then got back to the dialogue at hand.

“What did you say, Hanamaru-san?”

“Um, you know that bush in front of us?”

“I do, is there anything that needs to be done there?”

“I heard that bushes are a good hiding spot, so I was thinking we should go there next.”

“Is there any point to hiding in this spot? I can't imagine them finding us anyway.”

“Maybe it's just so the search would be more fun,” Kanan suggested.

“Yeah, that's what I was thinking, zura!”

“Although I wouldn't exactly agree with that, there's no reason to complain now.”

Kanan turned around, only to then return to looking in front of their hiding place and respond, like she was answering a question, “we should be safe moving about now. I don't see anyone else here.”

Hanamaru peered at the bush and then said, “In that case, let me just go ahead and do this…”  
She dashed and hopped over to the bush, sitting down on her knees and resting her hands on the ground as if she were waiting for them to come along with her.  
“I think we’ll be good, zura!”

“H… Hanamaru-san! What makes you think we would go over there without a second—”

“Come on, Dia-chan,”  
As soon as Dia caught her breath, as fast as a wink, she saw Kanan already situated next to Hanamaru.  
“Do you have anything in mind better to do?”

“Well, not really, but…”

“I wasn't up for it myself at first, but just give it a shot. I’m sure we’ll find what we came here for soon enough.”

“Alright, you convinced me. But Hanamaru-san, do you have any plans in mind as to how we should look for it?”

“All I’ve got is that a little while ago I saw this strange light and that I wanted to go in its direction, zura.”

“A strange light leading us to Guilty Kiss? Could it really lead to that?”

“That's gotta be the reason for it showing up. I swear, it was like it shot up into the sky out of nowhere!”

“Out of nowhere? It has got to be somewhere!” Dia perked up as her curiosity peaked from Hanamaru’s words, as not even that was safe when trying to protect the “peace”... or as she thought of it, Hanamaru, the bright ball of energy that kept her and Kanan on her toes.

“What do you think, Kanan-chan? We’re near Numazu right now, so if we go there maybe we’ll find that noise, zura!”

“As long as it's not harming us I don't see why not. I’d say this may be our best chance.”

“You really think so?”

“Sure I do. Besides, I want to see what happens next too.”

“Both of you look pretty interested with this...”

“Why wouldn't we be, Dia-chan?”

“I’m not quite sure, though it does get me intrigued as to what we’ll see.”

Out of the corner of her eyes something laid in the distance. Dia couldn't make it out from all the blur, but it was definitely something.

Hanamaru whispered, “Did you guys see that?”

“See what?” asked Dia.

“That light over there! It’s just like the one I was talking about earlier!”

“A light? I don't see anything odd right now.”

“It's like one of those lights that show up for a second and then flash away!” Hanamaru’s eyes practically sparkled as she then blurted out, “Kanan-chan! Did you see that??”

“That light over there?”  
Kanan pointed to a random direction at once as her arm slightly started to shake. Her whole body continued to tremble as she smiled at them, giving off the impression that if she didn't say something else soon she would burst from anxiety.

“You saw it too?”

“I.. I guess so!”

“Ooh.. this is just perfect! Dia-san! Since I and Kanan-chan saw it, can we go to where that light was??”

“We’re already here, are we not? I still don't know if it would be of any use, but we can try to find a solution in this way.”

“In that case, where should we hide next, zura?”

“I don't see anywhere else we can hide from, though can't we just walk?”

“It’d be a bit boring, but if there's nothing else we can walk! Maybe that would be fun too.”  
Maru turned her head left and right with a smile on her face, and it became apparent that she was simply happy to go on an adventure with them.

Kanan laughed, “Someone sounds excited,” and Dia said soon after, “How about going towards that road to the left?”

“That plan sounds great to me, zura!”

When they all made their mutual agreement, the blinding sun soon marked the continuation of their venture.  
Along the glimmering trash can was a paved sidewalk, and that was where they had their sights on first.  
Walking on it until it’s end, they made a left turn, kept on going straight… they went on a seemingly endless path, yet on their faces still remained a smile. With no worries on their mind, they continued on; all that could be said was, “when would they see that light again?”  
Perhaps the tall buildings lining the city were blocking out the light the whole time, yet the question lingered.

From the back of her eyes she could already feel a familiar presence coming towards her.  
Once she was next to her, Hanamaru excitedly said, “Dia-san~” in a sing-song voice.

“What is it?” replied Dia, continuing to walk forward like the other two.

“I’ve been looking around for any signs and can't find anything, and Kanan doesn't seem like she's found anything either. Have you seen any lights around here?”

“All the lights I’ve seen were from the buildings themselves… at this rate I don't think we would find much even if we did.”

“Why don't you think so, zura? We’ve got to find them somewhere!”

“Yeah, but with how big this city is they could be anywhere.”

“If that's so where else can we even go?”

Kanan turned her head just a bit backwards before suggesting, “There's this library I went to a while ago that has this rooftop we can go on, how about that?”

“The library? I never knew there was a rooftop, zura!... but I’ve never went beyond the first floor before.”

“I stayed there for just a little while, but from what I remember it may be tall enough to help us out.”

“Dia-san, what do ya think? Kanan-chan’s idea seems fun!”

Her initial reaction was to simply shut it down until she realized that she was at a loss as to what to do as well, so she had no choice but to begrudgingly go along with it, like everything else they were doing.  
 _If it can lead us in the right direction…_

“Uh, well...”  
Dia showed a small smile as she thought of what to say next, but Kanan cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

“Dia-chan~ there's no need to be shy, it’ll help us out for sure.”

“... so, about that library you mentioned earlier, where is it?”

“It should be around a minute’s walk from here, around the corner there's this big map of the city too so we can check that out…”  
Kanan took a look to her right.  
“Oh, here we are. Looks like it was closer than I thought.”

Directly in front of them was a brown building lined with rows upon rows of glass windows in between, the height seemingly shooting across the sky from the angle they were in.  
With already being in close distance, it was a given that they strolled in from the moment they saw the entrance.

As soon as they all walked in a strong smell hit them. It was vaguely recognizable, at most resembling what would be expected of a building packed with books, bookshelves, everything that had to do with books… along with people.  
The library was unusually filled with people, not in the sense of a large crowd, but still enough so that seeing what the building had inside was a mild struggle.  
Dia and her friends waited for a short while until the herd of people cleared up, and then started to look around the place from there.

“This place has a lot more books than I remember, zura…!”

“It does? I can't say I’ve noticed a difference, but that's cool.”

Although she was curious about what was in the library as well, Dia thought she should be the one to suggest walking to the rooftop soon. She wouldn't say it now, but soon enough she would. She made note of it and then simply kept on going as if nothing had crossed her mind.

Kanan and Hanamaru already headed off towards the hallways, so Dia followed them in the hopes of knowing what would be best to do next. The room they all walked into was more dimly lit than the brightness of the room closest to the entrance; it lulled Dia off into a dream-like state, until she approached the cloth of Kanan’s shirt and managed to snap herself out of it.  
Her friends were happily conversing the whole time, though even after she was wide awake, all she paid close attention to was where they would find a way to get onto the rooftop.  
Like some sort of accidental labyrinth rows upon rows of books covered all the areas they walked through as well, all until they approached the ends of the wall that led up to a smaller grey wall that was slowly falling into place.

“Is this the right place?”  
Kanan took out a rolled piece of paper from her back pocket and lightly nodded towards it after she read it through.

“Is that an elevator, zura?! I’ve always wanted to go on one of those..!”

“The doors should open at any moment now.”

Dia and the others continued to wait until the wall situated and the doors moved to their opposite sides.  
Inside the gleaming grey interior, three girls who seemed to be somewhere around the same age as herself remained in the elevator and waited for them to get on.

Only one thought hit her from then.

_Ruby-chan?!_


	11. Growing Flowers

She was still in disbelief.  
She led them all the way here, but the book was nowhere to be seen...

She, You, and Chika were waiting for the sound of an elevator. The heat outside was on the verge of making them practically melt, and Ruby couldn't take it for much longer.  
They had went out here after her request, shortly after spending a good few hours looking for a book she had already , though nothing good came out of it other than a shiny coin on the ground that Chika took and placed inside her wallet.

When the elevator came, she let out a nearly inaudible “pigii!” and walked inside with everyone else. It was time to get in, get out, exit the library, and hopefully find somewhere good to eat before they went back home and Ruby could indulge in hero-related things to forget all about the day.

“Gah.. I can't believe we didn't find that book!”

Chika had known of that book as well; perhaps she hadn't read it like Ruby had before, but it seemed like she knew enough to want to read it too. Her lighthearted irritation said it all.

“We’ll find it again soon. It has to be somewhere,” You replied.

Ruby simply said the last idea she had in mind. She had already looked for it several times in the past, so at this point she wanted to buy it for herself.  
“I bet buying it online would be a good idea too!”

The silver doors moved. They moved to their opposing ends, and the elevator made its first stop.  
Outside the doors was a room that encompassed itself with books. The shelves were barely tall enough to fit the largest book, which was already small in itself. But what stood out most were the three people standing in front of them.  
There was this one blue-haired girl she had never seen before, and… _was it really?_  
That girl she had recalled as “Wall-chan” had returned?! She thought her name was Maru, or Hanamaru, or maybe something else. She wasn't sure. But that was the last of her confusion. Her caramel hair, her sparkling brown eyes, there was nothing like her. And to go along with that was one last girl… who was her big sister…!  
 _Oh no…_  
Ruby hadn't told Dia that she sneaked out of the house… she was betting on her staying alone in her room studying like she usually does, but out of all the convenient days there are to stay home this had to be the one they both coincidentally met up in.

“Ruby-chan!”  
Dia pointed at her at once. Her body was near shaking as she held in her agitation.

“Onee-chan!”

The doors started to close.  
Ruby, You, and Chika were in one side, inside the elevator, and Hanamaru, Dia, and Kanan were in the other side, outside in a bordering section of the library.  
Hanamaru stepped into the elevator and then quickly got in as well. Dia appeared to only get more angry, but the doors opened in the end, making her and Kanan rush inside as they waited for them to close again.

 _Would it be moving soon?_  
They had taken such a long time that Ruby forgot if any of them pressed a button, though if they did, they would be going into an unknown floor by now…  
The elevator rumbled, and this strange feeling in Ruby’s gut started to emerge. Now she knew that in fact, a button was pressed. But what could it be?

Some time passed and from then the doors opened again. They were in the lobby, or that was at least what she was thinking. The amount of people were only a bit less than there were before, and she was still unable to see much more than the register stand, so if that were the case it wasn't like she would have a reason to be surprised.

Dia was the first to step out, saying to everyone besides the people she came with and Ruby, “So, who are you people?”

“Us? Do we look suspicious to you?”  
You pointed at herself, as if Dia could see her from the back of her eyes.

“It's not that, but you're with my sister, so it's only natural for me to check in.”

By this time everyone was walking into the lobby area.

Chika asserted to her, “Don't worry about it though. We're just her friends!”

Kanan turned at Chika and asked, “Hey, what's your name?”

“I’m Chika! What's yours?”

“I’m Kanan.”  
She hesitated a bit, but then said, “Now that you mentioned your name, you're beginning to look a bit familiar, like we knew each other before.”

“You're Kanan, right? I think I knew a Kanan when I was a kid! But that can't possibly be you; I haven't seen her in ages!” Chika giggled.

“I’m pretty sure I knew a Chika too, but if we did know each other maybe I forgot to tell you that I left. I moved around a lot when I was in middle school or so and barely moved back here.”

“You have? Maybe we did know each other after all! It’d be fun to get in touch again.”

“I think so too!”

A wall was in the way from everything else, and everyone took another turn. Ruby could only wonder what would come next, until she heard another conversation strike up.

“Why are you guys here? I never thought I’d see you after the time we met, zura!”  
Hanamaru quickly walked in front of everyone else as she said it, but it was clear that her question was directed towards Ruby and her friends.

“We were looking for this book and just came after we couldn't find it–” Ruby murmured. For whatever reason she felt the need to remain quiet, or at the least to the point of no one except Hanamaru being able to hear her.

“A book? There's lots of them here so if we look for it together we may find it.”

Next to Ruby was Chika, who wrapped her arm around her arm as she said, “We’ve looked for it like three times already! If Ruby-chan can't find it, nobody can!”

“What's the book even about?”

“It's this big book filled with information about heroes, machines, and other stuff! I haven't looked through it in a while so I wanted to see it again.”

Hanamaru said to Chika, pointing at her partners as their names were called out, “It is?? Kanan-chan, Dia-san, and I have been looking out here for this big machine we found, so do you think you can help? If you know about machines?”

“Wait, you're telling them about us already?” Kanan hastily asked.

“I met them a few days ago, they're pretty nice so I bet we can trust ‘em.”

“Yeah!” Chika pumped up her fist.

Dia seemed to still be a bit agitated, but in a moment calmly said, “Is that so? Well then, can you introduce them for us?”

“Let's see, their names are You, Chika, and Ru… Ruby, I think!”

“You remembered us pretty well..” You said.

“You really do know them… well, we don't really have a choice now, do we? I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.”

“Speaking of doubt, it looks like we hit the nonfiction side of the library! Ruby-san, is this where you think that book would be located, zura?”

“The last few times I went here I didn't find it, but when I did before it was here too.”

“That's strange… have you looked anywhere else?”

“We’ll looked through every section that seems like where it is, but we still can't find anything.”

“You can't find anything? Not even something like it?”

“There was one other one, but it was still too different…”  
Ruby started to panic a bit. She knew she didn't have much luck in the first place, but for whatever reason hearing herself say it out loud was all the more devastating.

“I was thinking, I saw this little book database sign on the door when we walked in; what if we searched the name up on that?”  
You approached Hanamaru a bit closer, in front of Chika and Ruby.

By now Dia and Kanan have both moved along to the edges of the bookshelves, which was a short distance away from them. They seemed to be talking, but their voices couldn't be heard clearly enough to be understood.

“There's a book database? Is that like what the government uses??” Chika then asked.

“Yeah, I heard there's a computer down at the lobby we can search it up in.”

“No way.. it really is the future, zura! We better get looking then!”

“We’re all a little curious about it… it’s like it’d be something totally new! It's getting me a bit excited!”

A book database… Ruby wondered whether it’d work or not, but she went along looking for it with everyone else. It seemed like now would be her chance.

After a few turns they were back at the lobby, which oddly enough was completely empty. Putting that strange discovery behind they walked over to the small computer in the back corner. The computer was mid-sized, dark grey in color and relatively high-tech. It could surely do more than just that, but it was clear that its main purpose was to be a book finder.  
They all got closer to look at it, and Ruby was the one to make use of the chair and take a seat.

_Numazu City Library._

That was the name, and the first words written onto the preloaded website, but more importantly, the book search's page showed up. There were categories and options for pretty much anything imaginable. From children’s books to DVDs, searching by author or series, along with many other things, as great as they were, in truth they were merely filler to Ruby, the only one who actually knew the title.  
Or a portion of the title.  
All she remembered was that it had “hero” in the name, and that it was nonfiction, so she simply typed those in.

Everything seemed normal enough at first. Sure there were far more books that had “hero” in the title than expected, but the nature of them seemed like a perfect path to getting that book again after Ruby had delved into every other option she could think of. Long names and various suits on the covers, or even just text on some of the more “serious” ones were what she came across most, and with that she kept on searching, the attentive support of Hanamaru and everyone else keeping her on her feet.

Everything seemed normal, until she felt a mysterious presence get closer behind her.

“RUBY!”  
You’s voice cried out.

The mysterious person took ahold of her chin, and rapidly jerked her head up. Ruby jerked her head back down, stood up, and then turned behind her, only to see a note drop down to the floor.

**_Rules are rules…_ **

Along with the ominous statement, a dark purple emblem was there, presumably stamped onto the paper.  
Note in hand, and a burning sensation left intact, there was no doubt Guilty Kiss was behind it all.


	12. When Actions Speak Louder Than Words

For whatever reason, Ruby still couldn't get her mind off the note.

“Ruby-chan! Can I see that note, zura?”

“Sure. I hope it’s not bad…”  
She loosened her grip on the note as she handed it over to Hanamaru, her voice keeping that same trembling feeling she had out of anxiety.  
“Here, take a look.”

Hanamaru glared at the note. Her eyes moved along with the words, and it looked like she read it a few times over.

“I got a note like that earlier today too!”

“You did?”

“Mhm.. it said something like, you’re next, zura..!”

Hanamaru seemed strangely excited, but nobody thought much of it.

“I was at my house with Kanan-chan and Dia-san when I saw a note fall out of a book I picked up, and it happened to be this, zura.”

“Do you have it with you now?”

“I think I do, but I haven't checked for it yet.”

“Can you look for it? I was thinking it could help us out.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll search around, zura…”  
Hanamaru felt around one of the pockets in her blue overalls and stuck her hand inside, shortly after holding a small folded sheet of paper.  
“I have it!”

“Yay~! I was hoping you would!”

Hanamaru unfolded the paper and turned it to the side where the text was.

“Do you see anything in it?”

The paper had a dark purple emblem, just like Ruby’s did. It had the same boldness and size of text, as well as a light yellow tint to the thin paper itself.

“Um, it looks a bit like mine. It has a lot of the same stuff, if you put them together.”

“Ooh, you're right!”

“Yep! If we run we might get to those people.”

You turned to face everyone else who was there and asked,  
“Hey, guys, should we try to get to them?”

At that moment footsteps started to become audible again. It couldn't be another “spirit”, so who could it be now..?

“Did we miss anything?” Kanan inquired.  
She and Dia had just walked behind the group.

“N-Not really. Hanamaru-chan and Ru… I have just looked at the notes we got and were going to go and see who sent them.”

“You two had notes? I know Hanamaru-chan got one earlier, but you got one too?”

“Mhm, they look alike to each other.”

Kanan walked up to see the notes Hanamaru and Ruby were still holding side by side.  
“They do look pretty similar… can I help you guys look for those people?”

“You would, zura?? We better go now then, or else we’d miss ‘em!”

Kanan raised her voice. She declared, “Hm, in that case.. hey, everyone! Hanamaru, Ruby, and I will be going out of the library to meet the sender of some letters real quick, if you wanna come just follow us!”

“Zura..! Do you think anyone would come?”

“I sure hope not. I have a feeling we might get into exactly the thing we were looking for.”

* * *

Despite the odds of them getting lost to no return, they got out of the labyrinth that was the library and into the elevator. Neither Ruby or Hanamaru could recall where the “spirit” went besides that they went backwards, so all they could do now was look into the city from the very top.

“What were we looking for again?”

“Hanamaru-chan, you forgot? We were looking for that robot machine-maker we saw before.”

“Oh yeah.. I must’ve forgot, zura.”

“Don't worry about it then, we still gotta keep on looking.”

As they were looking around, nothing appeared yet, other than the buildings that were already there to begin with, and people. Not like the type of people who seemed like they were doing something suspicious, but regular, ordinary people.

Hanamaru, Ruby, and Kanan were standing near one of the walls bordering the edge of the rooftop, resting their heads on their hands as they looked for any signs.

“..zura…”

“...pigii…”

“Is something wrong?”  
Kanan turned her head in worry.

“Hm? No, it's just a game,” Ruby happily responded.

“A game? I’ve never heard of that one. How do you play?”

“The person starting says a word they think fits themselves, and another person replies with a word that fits themselves too, zura. It's fun when there's nothing else around to do!”

“Let me try…”

“I’ll start up again! Zura~”

“Pigii~”

“..haggu~”

As soon as Kanan said the word Hanamaru latched onto her, giving her a big hug.

“Haggu!”

Kanan smiled more than she had before, following Hanamaru’s own smile.  
“Haha, thanks, Hanamaru-chan.”

“No problem!”

Ruby watched their warm hug before she commented, “You guys are pretty cute~”

“We are, zura?!”

“Yep! Hugging’s pretty cute, but you make it cuter.”

“I bet it's because of you, Hanamaru-chan.”

Hanamaru’s cheeks flushed a light pink, and she uttered under her breath, “I’m gonna blush at this rate.. almost as red as these flashing lights…”

“Did you say flashing lights?”

“Yeah, Kanan-san! They're right in front of… this must be bad, zura!!”

A black mecha flashed its bright red lights around as it stood in place in front of the three girls.

“It's not… doing anything?”  
Ruby reached her hand out to the mecha before Kanan grabbed it out.

“Don't be shy, just kill us already!”

“Kanan-san??”

“Watch this, that thing can't possibly kill us.”

The mecha beeped.  
It started at a slow pace, but got faster as it moved forward.

_“-e m--t again, littl- d---ons!... wait!”_

_“...there we go, the mic’s fixed. But the point is, we’re going to blow you to pieces!”_

Yoshiko seemed very determined. Maybe it was from the mic mishap, though maybe that’d make her more angry than anything.

“...come out here already, we know that robot’s for show, zura!”

_“Tch. H...How would you know that?”_

“There's nothing on it than direction arrows, I can see it all the way from here!”

_“So you noticed… fine, we’ll get outta here.”_

The brightly lit glass front of the mecha popped right off from the front, and as Ruby and her teammates stepped backwards Guilty Kiss walked into the rooftop.

“Wow, Yoshiko-chan, I can't believe you gave up on the mecha act so fast... you're no fun!”

“Shut up, it's not like we had a choice... and it's Yohane to you!”

“And we used the same one from last time. It's pretty obvious, Mari-san.”

“Aw come on, Riko-chan, Yoshiko-chan... it was worth a shot~  
Anyway, Hanamaru-chan, Kanan-chan, I wasn't expecting you two to be here~!”

“It’s been a while since we last saw each other, hasn't it?”

“Yeah, Kanan-chan! We haven't seen each other since we fought a while back!”

“Hanamaru-chan and I haven't fought once since you three were gone, and now to think that we’re here again because of you! It only means I’ll have to win again!”

“I gave you that win, but I’ll let you have it.”

“If Dia-chan was here she’d tell you that we won fair and square!”

“Ah.. looks like I have no choice but to…”  
Mari took out the purple badge attached to her clothes and stuck it onto her shoulder.  
**“Viva Guilty!!”**  
“fight you with more of my power!”  
The vivid purple haze surrounding Mari and the rest of Guilty Kiss fully decked them out in metallic purple and black armor.

“So you want to play that way?”  
Kanan crossed her arms and placed both of her hands onto their opposing elbows, taking a mask off her surrounding jacket’s pocket as she spun it around her.  
**“DIVE Into Aqua!”**  
Violent splashes of water flew around where the mask hit as the suit faded onto her.  
Kanan’s shining white and blue embellished armor now stood in front of Mari’s.  
“We’ll show you that you’ve messed with the wrong people!”

 **“Into a NEW WORLD!”**  
Strands of paper and fabric shot from the collar of Hanamaru’s shirt as soon as she pressed a button on her watch, and when the mask fell down a leaf-covered armor emerged in her place.

 **“Kyou mo Ichinichi!”**  
Dots quickly traced the outline of her suit and progressed onto stippling the outer edges of the inside. It locked into place, leaving a crescent of steam and fire behind Ruby.  
**“Ganbaruby!”**

“Now that we’re transformed, are y'all ready to fight??”  
When Hanamaru blinked she felt a spot of heat around her arm.

Riko slid a foot forward as the flaming card she tossed fell down onto the cold concrete floor.  
“ehm… We’re more than ready to put on a good fight! We won’t hesitate any longer!”

* * *

Mari and Hanamaru were the first ones to move, the former hammering her fist into the side of the other’s face. Mari propelled herself towards the barred corner and kicked Hanamaru’s neck to the ground.

Yoshiko took Mari’s place as she moved to the same place, with everyone else soon following.

 ** _“Flaming BURST!”_**  
Ruby pushed Hanamaru to her behind as she charged a blue flame in front of her, moving close to the center of the rooftop as Yoshiko shot an arrow from her back onto the now standing Hanamaru. Hanamaru sliced the arrow off and threw the dull remains into the arrow’s old spot and the pointy top to her as well.

An indistinguishable scream came out from an attack, leaving a fanfare to another round of attacks.

“What do you got to lose?”

“Nothing, and that's why we’re fighting!”

 _Aria of Light!_  
Kanan’s back sparkled and covered itself with a large sphere of water. She aimed it at Mari and released it to solely her. Mari then clasped her hands and grappled Kanan’s shoulders.

Right next to them was a fistfight between Yoshiko and Hanamaru. They alternated strength as they struggled through.

Riko threw forceful kicks at Ruby. Ruby jabbed Riko’s waist as she got ahold of her arm to twist backwards.

To her side Ruby saw Yoshiko’s back covered with thorns, them invading the slots of her arrows.  
Hanamaru inserted the arrows she pulled out into her fabric pockets.  
_“Let's take your life, zura~”_  
A green aura was made out amongst the commotion and Yoshiko laid on the ground  
All there was left from them was an echo and Hanamaru looking down on her unconscious opponent.  
She turned to the rest of them and declared, “Can we go on without her?”

Riko answered as she grappled Ruby’s arms, “Well I did say we’d put on a fight!”

 ** _“Catalyst Boost!”_**  
Riko sent a kick to Ruby’s torso and dents started to form on the armor. Ruby grew weaker, but they still fought.

A beep echoed closer.  
Rails appeared out of nowhere and it looked to be coming from Mari’s side. It slid to the top of the sky, and she rode along with it. At the speed of light she moved and then jumped off with a card in her hand. Even when she tried to run away it cut into Kanan’s armor like butter. She clutched her heart and stood back as her armor faded away to her scathed clothes. Soon after, everyone turned back into their former state as well.

“Oh~ Was my move too powerful?”

“No, but…! It was just a coincidence.”

Mari moved and patted Kanan’s shoulder. Riko and Ruby, stopped their ever so present battle and listened into their conversation.

“There's always a chance to win next time. But for now, we have the upper hand.”

“Next time we’ll get stronger, whether you guys won or not.”

Riko then said to Ruby, “You’re pretty strong, a lot more than I was expecting.”

“You're a lot stronger though! I know we're on opposite sides but you're really cool!”

“I am?”

“Of course! Outside that suit you're really pretty, and I bet you're nice too!”

“Ahaha… thanks. I didn't think someone against me would think I’m cool.”

“We’re not really against each other though! We might be fighting, but it’d be for other reasons, I think! You-chan told me a bit, and she said you wanted to take her Shine and go?”

“Yeah, no one here really wants it except Mari-san though. Yoshiko-san and I are doing it to see what happens right now, so don't worry about us.”

_“Yoshiko-chan?? Are you awake?”_

Mari shook Yoshiko a bit.

“Mari-san, I already checked on her a while ago, zura. She's probably unconscious.”

“She did get hurt pretty bad. Honestly I’m just surprised this happened last time too.”

“It did?”

“Yes~ it did! During that one I and Yoshiko were both pretty hurt, but Riko-chan didn't get a single scratch on her. This time, however, things turned out a bit worse.”

“I see. Kanan-chan, Ruby-chan, and I got a bit injured too. How about getting some rest?”

“It's not like any of you have the Shine for us to waste too much of our energy on, so maybe we should get our rest after all. I mean, unless anyone wants to go for more, _Kanan-san_.”

“Hey, look, I’m fine with letting you guys do whatever, if it won't kill us.”

“Come on, we may be against each other but murder is murder! Whatever we do I don't have a choice but to stop before that~”

“Uh, that's reassuring.”

“Totally! But with that we’ll be heading off for now! Be prepared for an even stronger team to go up against next time! Ciao~”

Mari walked to the now damaged mecha door, when Hanamaru held her hand out in her direction.  
“Wait! Mari-san?”

“Hm?”  
Mari turned to her.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Why did you fight us when the only one you need to look for is You-san?”

“Hanamaru-san, as much as I want to answer that question, I think I’ll have to keep it a secret.”

Mari walked closer to the door as Riko carried Yoshiko up with her, replying, “But I won’t stop you from guessing!”

“Ngh.. that's unfair, zura! You gotta tell us!”

Ruby walked next to her remaining teammates and said to her, “It's not like we can force her to do it… we’re not enemies, but…”

“Really? I was sure Mari-san said we were sworn enemies!”

“Not exactly,” Kanan explained.  
“... I’m not sure of it myself, but I overheard something Riko-san said a while ago. She said that no matter what, we wouldn't really be enemies.”

“Pigii-! Kanan-san? You did?”  
Ruby tensed up as she placed her hands behind her back. She was sure Kanan knew her “secret”.

“Yeah. Did she say that to you?”

“Well, we were talking after the battle and she said that they were fighting us for reasons that weren't because of an enemy, nor from the Shine. Maybe they don't know the reason themselves.”

“Maybe they don't? And Mari seemed stressed when I asked her that question, zura!”

Kanan asserted, “Stressed out? You have a point… either way, I have a feeling we should check up on everyone else before we worry any more.”

“Right! We gotta check up on them,” Hanamaru said.

Ruby asked, “The elevator should be fine to use, right? It looks a bit damaged now… let me see if it works.”  
She walked closer to the elevator, and she could hear everyone else following her. She pressed the bright white illuminating button next to the doors. They started to open up slowly as usual.  
“Ah, it works! Wanna go in now?”

“Why shouldn't we?”

Kanan only nodded.

They walked inside the elevator’s doors, and they closed.  
They were finally safe, and as soon as they found the others, they could come home, together.

* * *

“Hey, everyone, you did a good job out there.”

“You think so, zura??”

“Pigii!”

“Yeah, I know that we didn't have much experience, but we gave our all and showed them our strength.”

“Thank you, zura! You did a great job too, Kanan-chan.”

“Uwaah.. thanks, Kanan-san! I’m with Hanamaru-chan, you were great!”

The elevator beeped and the doors started to open.

“Don't mention it, it's what I really thought.”

They walked out of the doors. Something popped out from the sides, but Ruby couldn't tell what it was yet.  
She looked to the left, and to the right…

“Boo!”

“C-Chika-chan?!”

“Hehe~ did I scare you?”

Chika was standing next to You and Dia with a mischievous grin on her face.

“Y-You scared me…”

Hanamaru approached Chika as she asked, “How did you know we were here, zura?”

Dia responded, “We figured something was happening soon as we heard the roof shaking, so we stayed here and waited.”

Kanan said, “You didn't have to wait though!”

“It’d be worrying if you didn't see us when you were done, so I nor anyone else could bring ourselves to leave.”

“We can't abandon a friend, can't we?” You reassured her.

“Speaking of abandoning… what were you doing out there?” Chika turned her head to the side, leaning towards Ruby as she asked, “Fighting someone?”

Ruby said, “Pretty much! It was just Guilty Kiss, but they were stronger! Hanamaru-chan and Kanan-san had these cool suits too!”

“No way!!”

“Mhm, we were all going one-on-one but everyone except Yoshiko-san was fine??—ah, they're leaving without us!”

Ruby hastily ran to the door before it closed, and Chika followed her.  
At this moment she couldn't think of much else to say, but she was safe. For now, she simply had to worry about not returning home too late.


	13. From Sea to Land

“Ah… it's so cold…”

“Chika-chan, are you alright?”

“Yeah, but I can't take it anymore! Sitting around in this kotatsu and doing nothing all day isn't doing it for me…”

“Can you stand up?”

“It's so warm that I don't want to move…”

“In that case I’ll wrap myself around you~”

“You-chan!”

“Sorry, I couldn't help myself.”

You laid on her bed covered in a blanket as Chika continued to lay below the kotatsu. Earlier they planned to hang out at You’s house and do something else, but the cold had overcome them.

“If only I had the motivation to get out of here…”

You stepped out of the bed and went behind Chika.

“You-chan~? What are you doing?”

“You’ll see.”

You slightly lifted up the kotatsu and placed a hand inside, lightly rubbing one of Chika’s feet.

“Gah-!”  
Chika shot herself out of her snug position and fled from the kotatsu. She fixed up her messy hair as she jokingly scowled at You.  
“That's so unfair!! You know I’m ticklish there!”

“I was already back there, so I just had to.”

“And I felt so comfortable!... why did you have to tickle me out of there?”

“If I didn't tickle you then what else would get you up? You sure weren't.”

“You're right, but did we have anything else to do around here?”

“Actually, there was one thing I wanted you to come here for.”

“There is?”

“Yeah, don't you remember what I said when I invited you here? That I wanted you to see this flyer?”

“That was a while ago! I couldn't possibly remember that much.”

“I guess you're right. But besides that, look!”  
You picked up a flyer hanging up from her wall and handed it over on her table. It had vibrant colors surrounded by a white background, along with a detailed drawing of a fish on the middle.

“Woah, isn’t that a new restaurant??”

“Yeah, it is! I heard Ikesuya has the best seafood in all of Japan, so I just have to tell you about it!”

“No way! There's already so much seafood in here, if they're saying it's the best then it must be true! Do you think Ruby-chan would want to come?”

“I sent Ruby-chan a text earlier if she wanted to come and she said that she’d be hanging out with her sister. My parents are busy again so it’ll just be us two.”

“Just us two?”

“Is there anyone else you’d want to join us?”

“Hm, I thought it would be nice to hang out together.”  
Chika innocently grinned at You as she leaned forward to her.

“We haven't had the chance to do anything like this in a while. It sounds pretty exciting.”

“I’m sure we’ll have fun!”

You and Chika went outside the room’s door and went through the house until they reached the entrance. They walked out and after You locked the door they hopped onto her bike.

“So, where is it?”

“It should be somewhere around Numazu?”

“You’re not sure about it?!”

“I figured that if we knew the general direction we’ll figure out the way.”

“Don't you think we’ll get lost?”

“Come on, we’ve been around there before, we’ll be fine.”

You pushed on the pedals with more force, making a curve straight to Numazu.

“See? Just a second now and we’ll see that place right in front of us!”

“In that case, let’s make a bet! If we get lost then you’ll have to pay for our meal!”

“But I was going to do that anyway.”

“Uhm, then I’ll order you a whole plate of sashimi!”  
Chika giggled from her back seat. You nearly took a glance, but soon went back forward.

“A plate of sashimi. I guess it's only fair if I give you a bowl of shiokara too!”

“Hehhh?...It doesn't matter, because I’m going to win!”

“To hell you are! I’ll win for sure!”

“I will!”

“I will!”

“I will!”

They soon bursted into some light laughter until a gust of wind ended it off early.  
A few tall buildings popped up into their vision, and it was clear that they were coming close.

“You-chan! We're getting near, aren't we?”

“Of course we are! Where else would be we be?”

“If we had bad luck we could’ve been thrown into the sea!”

“How would that even happen?”

“I don't know! But still!”

The towers over them built up as they kept on searching for the restaurant.  
You and Chika kept on turning and searching around until they saw a small arched building in the corner of the road.

“I told you we wouldn't get lost!”

“Ikesuya! I knew this place would be fancy, but not this much..”

“I wonder what kinds of dishes could possibly be there.”

“You didn't check?”

You felt Chika’s tension from a glance. Another moment and she could explode.

“...That flyer looked too good to resist! Like love at first sight!”

“But don't you see how urgent this is? This place is representing mackerel so much, how could you not look deeper into it?!”

“Representing mackerel?”

“You think? This is Numazu we’re talking about!”

“Chika-chan.. ahaha… well, let’s go inside before it gets any colder.”

“Okay, but that doesn't mean I gave up anything I’ve said before!”

* * *

Chika and You sat down on a table for two as they looked over the menu.

“Wow… they have so much stuff!”

“It's amazing what foods people can make with mackerel.”

“Now, which one would be best? They have fried mackerel, dried mackerel, and other set meals… so many set meals...”  
Chika flipped the page over to another array of mackerel-based dishes.  
“And the mackerel sashimi don!”

“The mackerel sashimi don. Sounds pretty high-class.”

“Right?! It's exactly the thing that’ll let one eat sashimi as intended, caught straight from the sea! But we're still not done! There's got to be a dish we can't find anywhere else…”

“The twin-textured mackerel sashimi don, would that be different from the normal one?”

“Sort of! But it's greater than that!”

Chika pointed at the picture, a bowl with two rows of sashimi and another row of chopped green onions in the middle.

“I see extra aged mackerel on it, it must taste better than the normal one.”

“It isn't about the taste! It's about the texture! The textures of fresh caught mackerel and the aged mackerel are totally different!”

“I never thought you’d be such a fanatic, Chika-chan.”

“My mom goes on about mackerel all the time so I picked it up myself.”

“That makes sense.”

Chika looked attentively at You as she asked her, “What are you gonna order?!”

“Hm… I haven't exactly decided yet…”

“Come on, there's got to be something!”

“The fried mackerel caught my attention. How about you?”

Chika grumbled, “Doesn't the sashimi look good though? It'd be fresher than anything else…”

“I’m not very good with sashimi though.”

“I know… but…”

“Unless you want me to follow up on that bet and order a special plate of shiokara for you~”

“No way no way no way! I can't stand that!”

“Then let me order the fried mackerel. Maybe I’ll try some of the sashimi if you order it.”

“You would?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Maybe?... fine, I’ll get it!”

The waitress came up to the table. Her eyes were squinted, but neither You or Chika mentioned anything about it and said their orders.  
She soon walked away to the front counter.

“Is it just me or does it seem like something bad’s going to happen?”

“Hm? This place seems fine to me!”

“It's that something’s just not right. Everything seems okay, but…”

“A bit of fog outside never hurt anyone. We’ll be alright, I promise.

“You really think so, Chika-chan!”

“Yep! On my life!”

* * *

Moments of silence came, and soon after arrived the food. Chika ordered the twin-textured mackerel sashimi don, as You expected, and You ordered the fried mackerel set. The fried mackerel and sashimi don were so warm, You felt herself melting inside and out. It was all perfect. Almost too perfect.

Chika dug her chopsticks into her food, but rather than eating, she bragged, “You see that? We haven't died yet!”

“What makes you think we were gonna die?”

“I wasn't thinking that, you were!… technically you didn't exactly say that, but still.”

“All I said was that I felt worried.”

“And how do you feel now?”  
Chika picked up a piece of sashimi and bit into it.

“I feel fine now, I think.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way!”

You grabbed a piece of mackerel and started eating as well.

“So, You-chan, wanna try some of mine? It's good!”

“Is it fine?”

“Of course it is! I know you said you dislike sashimi and all but you won't regret it.”

You stood up to reach Chika’s bowl, picking up a part of the sashimi with her fork.

“Come on, that's only a little bit! You sure you just want that??”

“Mhm, I’m sure.”

“Heh.. if you want more tell me though!”

“Thanks.”

You stood up and grabbed a small piece of sashimi. She sat down again, taking a bite of it.

“What do you think?”

“It tastes good.”

“Aw, I hoped you’d like it more.. it’s because it's sashimi, isn't it?”

“I don't like the texture of it, that's all.”

“That's fine, later I’ll get you something better.”

“You don't have to do that, I haven't even given you some of mine yet!”

“You’ll let me have some of yours too?”

“Sure, why should I not?”

Chika cut a piece of the mackerel out with You’s fork.

“Thanks, You-chan!”  
Chika smiled at You, eyes closed.  
“This fried mackerel you got tastes really good!”

“It does!”

“I still think the sashimi don’s better.. but what you got is great too.”

“Mhm, thanks!

Sharing more food from time to time, the two ate from their plates.

* * *

“That was such a good meal!”  
You joined her hands together as she took one last look at her empty plate.

“It was! I’m so full, I don't think I can eat any more until next week!”

Chika handed over a bill to their check.  
“I bet it's even more cold now… maybe we should stay here.”

“But Chika-chan, it could be even more cold later!”

“Oh yeah, huh. Then we could come back home.”

“That’d be nice.”

Chika hummed in agreement and pulled the door handle. She held it for You as she walked out.

“This place… looks different than before.”

“There's no one here…”

“And it's less cold, too.”

No one was there. The lights gave no sign of light and a light haze covered the lifeless shell of Numazu.

“It's probably nothing, maybe everyone’s inside? Or behind us! What if we split up to find them!”

“Like in a horror movie?”

“...How about we stick together?”

“Which direction should we look first?”

“To the left!”

Chika and You walked side to side on the cracked sidewalk.

“Man.. Guilty Kiss is gonna attack us again, right?”  
Chika sighed and clasped her hands behind her head.

“I doubt they would kidnap a whole town.”

“Why not?”

“All they're looking for is me. Going for anyone else wouldn't have any use.”

“But don't you think it's a trap?”

“A trap? It could be, but we can't just ignore it or anything.”  
You thought about what she said. It was true, they couldn't ignore what they saw. What if they were the cause of injury, the cause of disaster—or worse? She was usually quite confident in her abilities, and she knew she could take down whoever needed, but somehow, a task of protecting others threw her certainty into shambles.  
“Do you see anyone?”

“No, nothing here.”

They kept walking forward to the next corner.

“Nothing but buildings.”

“There wasn't anything but buildings before either.”

“Yeah, but there should at least be something else near us.”

“What did you want, a tree to appear out of nowhere?”

“No, I was just hoping for a sign of life.”

Chika gave her a nudge on the shoulder. The look on her face said it all; she started to feel just as nervous as You was. Nonetheless, she reassured her, “We can keep on looking until we find one. There’ll be something.”

They came across another corner, and there was still nothing.

“You never notice how lonely a thing can be until everything from it leaves, huh?”

“I don't think that's a saying, You-chan.”

“I never said it was.”

“Right.”

You felt a certain chill as Chika pulled away. She ran forward and pointed to her right, to an intersection in the road.  
“Wait, I found it!”

“You did?”  
You held her hands on her knees after catching up to Chika.

“Yeah, yeah! Look at that over there! It's a bench!”

“Oh yeah, there's a bench! And it looks like there's a person sitting on it.”

“It's perfect! Should we go ask for help?”

“Hopefully they’ll help us out.”

“Come on, surely they know what's going on too. They can't possibly not help us.”

“Yeah, let’s check it out.”

You stood up and walked across the road, Chika doing the same. They both felt calm, but as they got closer—

_“please…”_

_“You wouldn't understand.”_

_“What can I do? Something … anything…”_

_“I can't just wait! I need to see her! Please!”_

They found the person on the bench crying, hunching up over themself as they hung up the phone and covered their face with their hands.

You took out a few sheets of tissue paper from her pocket and laid it next to her.

She quietly noticed and took the tissues, sobbing to herself.  
You and Chika both knew it would be wrong to interfere so they waited for a few minutes, but once she calmed down You was the one to confront her.

“Umm…”  
You fiddled with her fingers and waited to see a response.  
They looked up at her.

“Excuse me…?”  
The mysterious person had two purple twintails, similar to Ruby’s, and wore a brown trench coat.

You gave a mellow voice as she asked, “Are you alright?”

“D-Did you see me crying a few minutes ago?”

“I did, but that's nothing to be worried about, if that's what you're thinking.”

“Sorry that I let you see me like this—that's not how I usually am.”

“It's fine, but did anything bad happen to you?”

“Yes. I got a call that my sister's in the hospital, yet I can't help at all.”

“That's horrible… how did it happen?”

“From what I heard she inhaled toxic air and was taken to the infirmary.”

“Was anyone else taken in? Where was she?”

“I don't think so, but I know it happened somewhere around here. Is there anything you're trying to figure out?”

“Sorry, it's that everyone here disappeared except you and us, so me and my friend wanted to see you for help.”

“Oh, do you need anything else?”

“Um, where’s that hospital you were talking about? So we can check if anyone else is there.”

“If you go straight to the left you should see it. I saw an ambulance pass that direction before.”

“Thank you! We’ll be going there now, but I hope your sister will be alright!”  
You and Chika stepped farther away and bowed forward. They were beginning to run off.

“Wait!...please don't go.”

They stopped.

“...Can I come too?”

Chika pivoted to the bench.  
“Do you want to?”

“I do. I might be able to check up on her just a bit quicker.”

“Then come. We’ll need your help.”

The girl wiped away her tears, sprinting to them as if it was her only hope.

“I’ll do my best!”


	14. Lavender Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i tried my best to make leah's dialouge alright, but i'm very inexperienced with her so i apologize in advance for any mistakes)

It was still cold.  
Walking in the middle of the empty street to stop poisonous smoke was the last thing Chika imagined she would do. Even less with You and this mysterious lady, a “cool beauty”, this day couldn't end up more unexpected. However, to save everyone, what else could they do?

“Hm~ hm~”  
Chika hummed to herself. She was hoping to get the girl’s attention since she didn't know her name yet.

You sounded like she caught on, and quietly hummed as well.

“What are you guys humming for?”

“Uh, well…”  
You attempted to answer, but the truth was that she didn't think over how to explain it. From the cold or from a loss of words, the result remained the same; Chika decided to take You’s place.

“Actually, we were hoping you’d answer. What's your name?”

“Leah Kazuno...”

“Ok, Leah-san! You can call me Chika.”

“I-I think I’ll call you Takami-san.”

“Wait, how do you know my last name?”

“I passed you, Kurosawa-san, and Watanabe-san fighting against a wall and happened to hear your names. Sorry.”

“It's fine. I was surprised though; I thought you wouldn't know us.”

“If it weren't for that you would be right. But we should hurry and see what’s going on.”

 _What would the hospital be like?_ she thought.

Leah hurriedly walked to the hospital, and Chika and You went with her.  
The musty air began to get into her eyes, and she blinked rapidly. Oddly enough, everyone else was okay; that is, when You and Leah were the only other people there. They didn't show any signs of sickness.  
She repeated the question to herself again. She felt her mind impaired already, but that couldn't mean anything. To stay positive was what she wanted to think.

“The fog is worse than I thought.”  
You rested her hand on Chika’s shoulder as they witnessed the hospital’s entrance. It was barely recognizable from the strong haze and they started to have a hard time breathing.  
“Kazuno-san, is this the hospital you think your sister is in?”

“I believe so. At least that's what it looks like.”

Chika investigated the area more. Beneath the fog she saw a damp road and wilting trees. They were always slightly less presentable than expected, but today she couldn't shake it off. As You said, the fog was worse than they thought.

Leah asked to the two, facing them, “Should we go in now?”

“Sure,” Chika replied.

Leah led the way through the cold fog to the hospital. Chika saw drops of water fall onto the ground, but shook it off as she and the others peeked into the small glass windows.  
There were a surprising amount of people in the waiting room, many laying unconscious in a bed while others worriedly waited. She knew the fog was bad, but this bad…

Thoughts still left intact, they walked to the entrance.  
There were still many seats available, but they accompanied Leah as she nervously headed to the front desk.

“Do you have an appointment scheduled?”

“No. I was looking to check in on a family member.”

“Who are you looking for?”

“I wish to see Sarah Kazuno. I’m her younger sister, Leah Kazuno.”

The woman at the station entered text into a large desktop at the end of the room. Soon after that she got back to Leah.

“About that, she just got here a few minutes ago so there's still a lot of work there needs to be done. You’d have to wait for a little while longer.”

“I see.”

“If you wait three or so hours you should be able to visit her though. Trust me, we’re doing our best.”

“N-No, no, sorry. Thanks for the help.”

“It's the least I can do— let me write you something up for later.”

There was a stack of sticky notes beside her and she messily wrote down a time and a doctor’s name.

“If you show this to me or anyone in the reception desk you’ll get your check in done quickly.”

“Thank you again.”  
The woman handed the note to her and Leah read it.

“Mhm. I’ll be wishing the best of luck.”

They walked away from the woman and her faint smile, the same one that made Chika smile a bit, but only a bit.

“We had no luck with her, huh?”  
You tugged on the collarbone of her jacket in frustration and sighed.

Chika nodded. “Yeah, but we’ll see her soon, right?”

They walked outside the door into the fog.  
Leah stared down at the ground as they walked.

“Leah-san?”

Leah glanced at Chika as she then looked back down.  
“What is it?”

“How are you feeling? You seem a bit down.”

“Please don't worry about me. I was just hoping I could check up on Sarah sooner.”

“I was thinking that was why… but I’m sure you’ll have a chance soon enough. She’ll be okay.”

“T-Thanks, for caring.”

“We’re both on your side, so of course I would care.”

You walked faster and looked at the girls.  
“So, we’ll have a while of waiting to do. Do you wanna wait in a bench around here, or what?”  
By now they were a good few minutes away from the hospital.

“If we wait here we’d get hit by the smoke. What if we went to Uchiura?”

“In Uchiura we can check if other people are gone too, so it sounds good to me!”  
Chika tilted her head and grinned.  
“Say, Leah-san, do you live around here?”

“No, my family and I live near Hakodate. We went to a mall around here and this hospital was the nearest one.”

“You went to a mall? What did you wanna buy?”

“Sarah and I were looking for fabric since we ran out of them. Once we got out and split up... that was when Sarah got infected.”

“Ouch… did you at least get the fabric though?” Chika asked worriedly.

“We did, actually. I left it with Sarah so I can't show you it until after I come for her.”

Chika stared into space as she thought.  
“Y-You know, You-chan, speaking of coming, how long do you think it’ll take to get from here to Uchiura?”

“Hmm, let's see… from my house to Ikesuya was around 20 minutes on our bike, and by foot it took around the same to go to the hospital? But that's counting the talk with Kazuno-san.”

“Heh~ then it’d take a while, wouldn't it.”

“It would…”

From there they kept on walking down the road. The same faint smell of the fog gradually started to fade as sense of weariness grew more onto Chika. It was probably the fog’s effects, she thought.  
The city was still as lifeless and hazy as before. Droplets of water continued to fall onto the floor, though not enough to be called rain. Every time she lowered her head, the amount of water on the mostly dry floor gradually increased. Other than that, nothing else changed.

“Hey, isn't that Ikesuya?”  
Chika spotted the restaurant from behind and called it out to You.

“I think so. We must’ve passed it again.”

“Really? Doesn't it look different from last time though?”

Chika was across from the left’s intersection, and You was to her right, looking from the other side.  
“How so? It looks fine to me.”

Chika scurried to You’s side and searched for what looked strange to her. She took a few moments to search for it, and then explained, “If you look over there to the right, doesn't it look purple to you?”

“Hm… it does.”

“Yeah! What if it's where the fog’s coming from??”

“Do you really think so? If it was, we’d probably be bedridden from it already.”

“Come on, you already survived that whole Shine thing so maybe we're immune! We gotta go! What do you think, Lean-san?”

“U-Um, I don't know, but if it will help then we can go.”

“See?”

You glanced back at the purple fog-tinted window. “I didn't say I was against it. Let's check it out.”

Once the traffic lights cleared up again they walked down the road onto the narrow sidewalk surrounding the building.

“Now, what could be inside~”  
Chika hopped and kneeled down next to the small window. Inside was brightly lit, with a girl holding a red book as she read off some sort of oration. She couldn't understand a thing. And she looked just like Yoshiko!

Leah and You, who were still at the corner, came to the window as well.

“What's she doing?” You asked Chika.

“It looks… like a satanic ritual!”

“Wait what?”

“She has the summoning circle and the black dress and the mysterious book and everything!!”

“But.. why is everything near her purple?”

“That's the one thing I don't know.”

Leah stared at the window.  
“A satanic ritual… that's just what could cause a fog storm if I ever saw one.”

“It is?” Chika asked.

“Yes. It seems like you know her a bit too, do you?”

“Well, she looks similar to a girl I know, but from the purple I can't tell… wait, you know her?”

“She looks like Yoshiko Tsushima. And if she is, that's exactly what I would expect a self-proclaimed fallen angel such as herself to do.”

“Y-You do know her.”

“I don't have a reason to lie about it. Well, we should get inside soon.”

“Oh, yeah. That'd be a good idea.”

Chika crawled forward before standing once she saw the others do the same.  
The front door seemed to shine from the opened corners. She swiftly opened it after hesitating and let it close once everyone got inside.  
Except for the purple haze everything was the same. It was them and the fallen angel. It wasn't like she had a doubt about it before, because she didn't, but...  
it really was Yoshiko.

Now that they were inside, Chika was able to hear Yoshiko’s words clearly. She thought they were in a different language, but as it turns out it was simply the muffling tricking her.

_"Come forth  
And bring the comrades of light!"_

Yoshiko closed the book and wrote something down with a feathered pen. It slipped out of her hand onto the ground and she soon went to pick it up. But once she turned and went forward, her body reverberated. That was where Chika, You, and Leah waited for her.

“...uh— I wasn't doing anything! I swear!”

Chika stuck a toothpick in her mouth as she lazily remarked,  
“It's alright, you don't need to hide it anymore~”

“Did you see that?”

“Not exactly? But why are you here?”

Yoshiko became less stiff. “On my days off I work at this restaurant. Once I smelled something strange, I decided to stay in and do some rituals for good luck. It would've worked out if I didn't have horrible luck.”

“If you have bad luck, wouldn't it be better if you haven't done the ritual at all?”

“What else could I do? I didn't want the aura to spread so I couldn't get out, all I could do is rely on my power.”

“So you don't know how to fix it either…”

“No, of course I’d know how to fix it! Would you expect any less from me?”

“Then how do you fix it?!”

“W-With a spiritual ritual, that's exactly how you fix it…” Yoshiko began to work up a sweat, and it surely wasn't from the warm fog.

“Yoshiko-san,”  
Leah hesitated, and then looked into her eyes.

Yoshiko bounced back and glanced at her.

“It's been a while,” she added.

“Yeah… though you're with them, aren't you?”

“I happened to pass by and want to help, that's all. But we were hoping you’d want to help a little as well.”

“Why should I help you guys out?”

“Do you remember the pact you and I made? Before we left, you said that for what I did you’d repay me. I wouldn't usually ask for it, but for now it might be needed.”

“I didn't think you would remember that. But in that case, it's not like I have much of a choice, if it can help you out...”

You whispered into Leah’s ear. Chika barely made out, _“can i say it?”_  
She didn't hear much else.

“Don't worry. All we need you to do is investigate with us. Unless you're the one who did it!”

“No no no no, I’m not the one who caused it! Why would I even try to fix my own problem?”

“So it isn't you.”

Yoshiko stepped away from the summoning circle, close to the occupied table.  
“You think? The point is that I’ll do it. For Leah.” __

* * *

_Yoshiko and Leah’s pact… what was it about?_

Yoshiko packed away the array of ritual items that were once on the ground into her duffel bag, and she carried it onto her shoulder.

“Wait, Yoshiko-san, I should tell you what we need to do first.”

“You should have told me that before. But I figured we’d need to get out first, so I packed my things up.”

“I was actually hoping we could investigate around here. You mentioned seeing that purple fog as well as we did, so I want to see if we can find out where it's coming from.”

“Oh, uh… I wouldn't mind.. if we did that.” Yoshiko nervously smiled at her.

“Then I’d recommend putting down the bag you have. It… looks a bit heavy.”

“No, no, nothing's too much for a fallen angel! But if you insist, I’ll rest it on that table over there.”

Chika set aside her bag for Yoshiko. However, she placed her bag on another unoccupied table instead. She couldn't decide whether to feel at ease or worried that Yoshiko has trust issues against them. They were technically enemies, though she hoped they'd be on good terms nonetheless.  
She and You left the table one at a time to join Leah and Yoshiko, who were still standing across. It was like they were having a staring challenge against each other. Soon enough, though, they noticed You and her presence.

Leah turned her head and asked, “Were you waiting for us?

“Yeah, a bit.”  
You continued to play with the corner of her hair.

“Sorry, but now we’ll be ready. Yoshiko-san?”

“...I’m not the one in charge or anything, so it's up to you!”

You inquired, “We should probably start with that corner first, right?”

Comparing it to the memory of the last time she saw it, the purple fog seemed like it was glowing brighter. You touched a small bit of the floor with her finger, and Chika soon came to look.

“Heh~? It's not purple at all…”

All they saw once she moved away from it though was a coat of regular brown dirt.

“What I guess is that the fog is nothing more than gas..”  
Leah’s eyes flickered and she turned to get a better look at the fog. From what Chika could see, it started right from the bottom corner and shot upwards, spreading to about one-third of the room.  
Leah mumbled, “It has to be somewhere.”

Yoshiko asked, “What did you say again?”

“It's nothing.”

“If you have something to say you can tell me.”

“...I wanted to look for it more.”

“It was just that? I thought you found something out!”

“Sorry about that.”

“How about we check something else around here, if you want to find it so much?”

“What would you say about me checking your bag?”

“I put my fallen angel stuff in there a while ago and I didn't see anything.”

“Did you check the outside?”

“No? How can a little bag cause something like this?”

“I didn't say it did, but I saw cases like that before so it would be good to check.”

“I still doubt you're going to find anything of use, but go ahead if you want, I don't have anything personal inside.”  
Yoshiko moved her hand, gesturing to their table. Chika’s attention grew to her as her eyes wandered over the small black duffel bag.

“Thanks. You can come over too, if you’d like.”  
Leah continued looking at her before she went and kneeled down to the chair below the table. Yoshiko watched behind as Leah uncovered what was beneath the zipper. She opened it, and saw the black cloth and summoning book she witnessed earlier, taking them out onto the table. She placed a few more items on as well until she hit the bottom.

Yoshiko tilted her head. “See anything?”

“Nothing.”  
Leah ran her hand through the bottom in case she missed anything, but she didn't.

“I told you we wouldn't find it here.”

“It's good to search everywhere we can either way. Well, let's move it somewhere else before we forget.”

Leah carefully placed the materials back how she remembered them, fitting them in until it didn't overflow. She zipped it back up and lifted it to the table.

“Where else should we look now?”

“The kitchen might have something. There's a lot of cooking items so that's our best bet!”

“We’ll need all the options we can get.”  
Leah’s eyes shifted to the right. Where the bag was, she saw something unusual.  
She looked back up at Yoshiko, but she reverted back. She took a glance at her again, but no matter what she did those markings had her full attention.

Yoshiko turned to her and concernedly asked, “Are you alright, Leah?”

“Y-Yeah, don't worry…”  
She prepared for her response, but Leah then added, “Does your bag always have writing on it?”

“Why would it?”

“I found some on its side, and it sounds worrying.”

“Worrying? It must be if you think so.”

“If you look on the left there's this handwriting that says ‘come see me, please’.”

“That's odd, I don't believe anyone's written on it lately.”  
Yoshiko glanced at the nearest side of the bag, and she noticed the black letters on the slightly greyer casing. Her eyes widened.  
“It's from Mari!”

“It's from Mari?!”

“Yeah, you know her from That Day, right? It's that Mari. Her fancy handwriting gives it away.”

“Though what's most weird is that she's at the same one my older sister is.”

“This should be a coincidence, but also a sign from hell!... wait, no, we have all our stuff so we can go, don't we?

“I believe so. I only brought my bag.”

“We’d have to hurry at this rate, so let's go.”

Leah nodded.  
Yoshiko carried her duffel bag with both hands as Leah grabbed her bag off the chair and opened her umbrella.  
In a moment they disappeared, Yoshiko’s abrupt “we gotta go!” being the last words left.

* * *

_Soft humming filled the room just as the dim light seeping from the curtains did. In the bed was a small girl. She fell into a deep sleep, just as she always did. A blonde woman sat beside her. The monitor beeped again, and she watched._

_“Just a little more.”_

_She tapped on the cords, flipping on a switch from the plug._

_“I hope I didn't wake you up.”_


	15. Seperation

If only she really was a fallen angel she could fly away, but she sufficed without that advantage. Now, the building was right in front of them. The building that would lead to their next descent. It looked smaller than she remembered, but then she realized how long ago it was since she last came. Surprised at the suspicion that her luck might have increased, she let go of it entirely.

Yoshiko pushed the handle and walked through the door with Leah by her side.

The lobby was quite empty. The only people inside besides them was a lady by the front desk and a small family resting on a row of chairs. Leah looked around, pulled up her bag, and held onto a small sheet of paper.

 

“Excuse me?”

She approached the desk. As she waited, her eyes shifted across the woman and the various medical equipment behind her. Yoshiko stood close just in case.

 

“Welcome. Do you want to schedule an appointment?”

She sounded awfully cheerful for a receptionist. Yoshiko was lucky she had self-control, or else she’d end up asking her if she caused the fog herself.

 

“No thank you. I have this note I’d like you to see.”

Leah gently slid the paper onto the desk.

 

The lady grew tense, as if she didn't expect her to come. “Oh,” she took the paper and stuck it into a receiver, following up with, “So you’re that girl from earlier! We must've not gotten back to you earlier, but Kazuno-san should be ready if you still wish to see her. Once we get her room number we’ll be set.”

 

“Thank you for letting us know. Also.. could we schedule another appointment?”

 

“Who is it for?”

 

“I heard that Mari Ohara wanted us two to come, so I’d ask to check in on her room.”

 

“Sure, I can arrange that. It’ll take a shorter amount of time than the last one though, so don't worry.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Leah turned her head at Yohane. She nodded back at her and pushed herself back to the wall.

 

“Does it really take this long to visit someone here?” Yoshiko mumbled. Not even a minute in and she already felt bored.

 

“Last time I was here the same situation happened. That’s just how it is, I suppose.”

 

“That sucks...”

The room was so lonely, yet they’d have to wait and act as though they're amused. She always thought it was pathetic how impatient she felt, but she could never help it. As long as she held that feeling in, no one else can accuse her of it.

She sufficed by herself, thinking about what Mari might be doing and other things, but after her ideas dwindled she thought of what would be the next best thing. Small talk. Yoshiko struggled with it for as long as she could remember, but she couldn't think of anything else to pass the time.

 

She glanced once at the ground before looking at Leah, who sat on a small sofa. She would have to wing this one for sure.

 

“So, Leah,”

Yoshiko situated her hands behind the surface.

 

The sudden noise started Leah. After a moment she asked, “What is it?”

 

“Is it just me or are we and those girls from earlier the only ones who have different hair colors from everyone else here?”

 

“Different hair colors? Like what?”

 

“I haven't seen anyone else with purple hair before you. And I haven't seen anyone else with blue hair either.”

 

“What are you suggesting? That we’re like those ‘unique’ anime protagonists?”

 

“Well, something along those lines.”

 

“I really doubt we would be that important.”

 

“But think about it! Then I really could make everyone my little demon!”

 

She used that fallen angel shtick again. Yoshiko wanted to mentally punch herself from embarrassment, but somehow she felt happier after saying that. How odd…

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

They kept on staring at each other for a while. It wasn't what Yoshiko had in mind for an end to that conversation, that's for sure.

It could've been worse. For one, enough time has passed that they could pick up the note that receptionist said she would make. Yoshiko was sure nothing else would happen if she kept on staring into space, so she got up and asked for the paper. Luckily everything went well after long enough and she had not only Sarah’s, but Mari’s as well.

 

Leah stood up and intriguingly looked down at them.

“Yoshiko-san, those are the papers we need, aren't they?”

 

“Yeah, they have the time and everything. Which one do you want?”

 

“The one with my sister’s on it, of course. Is that even a question?”

 

“Sheesh, I thought I’d ask, that’s all. Here.”

 

Yoshiko passed Sarah’s paper to the irritated Leah, and glanced at the surrounding large hallway. If nothing else, seeing her as passionate of her sister’s safety as ever was reassuring.

 

“So, should we split up from here? For my bad luck’s sake it’s probably better for you to stick by yourself.”

 

“It can’t be that bad, but I don’t mind either way.”

Leah read the room number. B96. It sounded familiar, though she couldn’t think of why.

 

“Alright. Should you need me for anything just shout.”

Yoshiko took a step away.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t worry about me.”

Leah crossed her arms tightly and looked away from her as she walked away.

* * *

_ The sky became a bit more bright… and that was what woke the girl up. She slowly rubbed her eye and tried to shut them again, but she couldn’t escape to slumber any longer. _

 

_ “How do you feel? I’ve been waiting for you.” _

_ The woman beside her softly asked, like she was comforting a small child. _

 

_ “Hm? It still hurts… but I’m alright.” _

  
  


Yoshiko looked back and forth between the room’s number and the outside world, hoping she wouldn’t accidentally pass the one she searched for.

If the newspaper was anything to trust, the hospital had around 500 rooms. To her that was enough of a reason to worry. Who knows what kind of strange things can happen while trying to make her way through rows and rows of hospital rooms, much less this kind of situation. She didn’t even know now why Mari wanted her to come in the first place—though she still wanted to see her, not only for her concern’s sake.

 

Once she actually faced with the reality of seeing what she wanted her to help out with, Yoshiko panicked right in front of the room’s door. Luckily no one was there to watch, but after hesitating she knocked on the door hoping Mari would pick up.

She heard footsteps, which sounded exactly like what she needed.

 

“Yoshiko-san, you made it~”

Mari turned the doorknob and gently pushed it back as she welcomed her in.

 

The urge to correct her filled in her mind… but if she wasn’t the patient who needed help, then who was?

“H-Hey, so what did you need me for again?”

She felt nothing but dread, a nervous feeling in her stomach thinking about what it could be.

 

Continuing her quiet tone, Mari explained herself.

“You sound a bit different than usual... but don’t worry. It’s not anything serious. Just come in!”

 

“Thanks, Mari.”

Yoshiko carefully stepped into the pitch quiet room, watching the way she walked as she gently set her bag aside the corner.

 

“Mhm! Anyway, I was hoping you knew a thing or two about how these machines work. I’ve had to power them by myself for a while ever since the nurses gave up on her… but they could break at any moment now. I’ve tried everything I can, but since you know a lot about computers I figured I’d be safe asking you.”

 

“Hmm… so what are these things, anyway? Are they monitors or what?”

 

“I think that’s what they are. They’re the kind doctors use for checking a patient’s heart rate and stuff like that. But lately they’ve been connecting and disconnecting, and I had to constantly move them around. What’s going to happen when I’m not here? I’ve stayed around for a few days, but I can’t do it for much longer.”

 

The young girl drowsily laid on the bed, as if she couldn’t get up even if she tried. Thick bands of tape lined up all over her legs, and her sleeves were rolled up to reveal the same on her arms as well. Inside of them were cords that led to the monitors that Mari needed her help with.

 

They looked normal at first, but soon after Yoshiko paid attention to them the lights started to flicker. Once, twice, three times. How many more times could it go? The truth was that it didn’t last much more than that. Unsurprisingly, it turned off, but restarted shortly after. What was surprising, however, is that it immediately turned to where it left off, like nothing happened before.

 

“See what I mean? I’m super worried that it’s going to turn off completely, and that she won’t make it. Maybe, if I can keep her here a bit longer, she’ll be alright.”

 

“It does seem like a pretty big issue if I ever saw one. If you come on my side we can look through it together or something. You know what they say, two heads are better than one.”

 

“That’s strange coming from a fallen angel, I thought you guys all liked being alone or something! But since you’re here, let’s look through it! It can be our new  _ shiny _ case for the day.”

 

“Well, if it’s for a little demon I can always make an exception,” Yoshiko gestured with her hand, “Come here.”

 

Yoshiko moved to kneel down right where the cable were, and Mari followed suit. There were chairs around, but it would be easier if they could move freely, she thought.

The wires weren’t tangled, luckily, but how clumped they were made Yoshiko move them onto the top of the bed so they could see the plug more clearly.

From a first glance something was up. The white walls of the room faded around the opening and sank down as it got closer to where the plugs connected. If anything, Yoshiko felt surprised she hadn’t accidentally unplugged them earlier.

 

“So, what do you think?? Do you suspect anything?” Mari cried.

 

Yoshiko scornfully looked away from the plug as the image was too much to bear. “I think I know exactly what it is.”

 

“You do? Then share it with me please!”

 

“Have you seen what’s outside your windows lately?”

 

“Not lately. I heard leaving them open for too long brings bad luck.”

 

“Well, do you mind if I open them now? There’s something you gotta know!”

 

Mari nodded; thus, Yoshiko walked over to the edge of the room and at the speed of light swung the curtains away from each other to reveal…

 

“I can barely see a thing out there.”

 

“Yeah, right? That fog appeared some time back and ever since then everyone’s disappeared. It makes me wonder where they went.”

 

“So it’s from the fog. That’s great and all but when’s it gonna end?”

 

“I’m not sure. I doubt it’s something that happens under normal conditions, though.”

 

“Hmph, this won’t get anywhere then... how about we ask around?”

 

“That sounds alright. You know what, if we need something I know the person to ask!”

 

“Who are you thinking of?”

 

“You know Leah, right?”

 

“Leah?? What made you think talking to her was a good idea all of a sudden? You guys have been in a grudge for years!”

 

“It’s a long story, but for this she’s agreeing to help me out. Don’t sweat it.”

 

“Alright, but the second something bad happens I’ll be leaving it to you~”

 

“Thanks, Mari, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Just take care of her for a bit more, alright?”

Yoshiko suspected from the start that she would basically become a communication device for Leah and Mari. She got to thinking… perhaps it was intentional?

 

“Of course. I wouldn’t be any good at this if I didn’t, right? You better text me or something though!”

 

“You never answer me either way, but alright. Anyway, I should go soon, so...”

She returned from the windows to the plug to check on it once more before she left.

 

...She had no clue what room Leah was in, but she’d figure it out somehow, right? was what she thought as she came back from where she started.


	16. A Circle of Clarity

Outside her room was one dead end to the right, and a pathway to the left. It could’ve been worse, but since she still had to find the room she couldn’t celebrate just yet.

Yoshiko still remembered the number on Leah’s card. B96. As much as she wish she took notice of whether it was the service or room number, she forgot that part. Were they even different?

Not that it would make much of a difference. From the hotel layout they should be around the same direction.

She started walking and looking through the numbers once more.

D99… D72…

The hospital was somewhat narrow so there shouldn’t be much more than a few hallways to walk. Every once in a while Yoshiko noticed herself looking at the ground, yet the room were so repetitive she didn’t even need to look at them. Just watch out for the hallways and make sure not to crash into a wall. Though that was more for if she was using her phone while walking. At least she wasn’t doing that.. or at least Mari hasn’t asked her to come back. There wasn’t exactly much to think about when some hospital staff person would flip out if she ran, especially when it’s around the time of day when she’d imagine some sick person trying to sleep.

She got onto the staircase that would lead her to the floor above. After this one she would be on floor C, and then she’d walk over to floor B’s.

C89… C67…

At the very least she got the exercise she always forgot to do.

Like so the numbers kept on repeating themselves until they stopped to another staircase. The final one. The truth was that actually walking the distance didn’t take much time at all, yet the process itself seemed to take forever—just like when she walked on that staircase.

B96.

The label just by the door said it all. She passed through one of these doors before, so she had nothing to fear. Nothing to fear, especially if she didn’t hear something that would turn her attention to it, maybe a mirage, a hallucination, a strange cry coming from beyond. None of that.

She grabbed and turned the doorknob as she remained blissfully unaware of what to expect.

Once a sliver of light opened Yoshiko closed the door again in fear that Leah noticed, but it was no use. So she opened it again fully.

She didn’t see anything until she looked to her left to see the two siblings huddled up. Leah held her phone in front of her as Sarah watched. She gave off the impression that she hasn’t been awake for very long, with the spaced out and confused expression on her face and all.

 

“Leah?”

 

She turned her head to the door as Sarah still cluelessly watched.

“Y-Yoshiko-san. Didn’t you say that you would be with Mari?”

 

“I did, but she asked me to come here.”

 

“She did? That can’t be true. How could she forgive me now?”

 

Yoshiko got out from the entrance and leaned onto a wall beside them.

“It’s for the same reason I’m teaming up with my own enemies now; to get something I need. Besides, I bet if it’s for her cousin, or whoever it was, she’d be eager to find help anyway.”

 

“Oh. That makes more sense.”

 

“Yeah, but has everything been alright?”

 

“Like,” Leah’s melancholic tone slipped out, “with the visit?”

 

“What else would I mean?”

 

“Everything’s been alright, I guess? It sounds like Sarah lost her memory after she woke up so I showed her around a little… but she’s okay at least.”

 

“She got amnesia?”

 

“She did. When she woke up the first thing she asked was who I am, so it couldn’t be anything else.”

 

“So that’s it, huh.”

 

“Is there something you needed?”

 

“No, I just wanted to do some research.”

 

“About the fog?”

 

“Yeah, that. That was also the reason I came.”

 

“Around here there’s not too much besides us, but you’re free to check if you want.”

 

“Thanks. If I see something I’ll let you know.”

 

Yoshiko looked around the room. It appeared oddly different than Mari’s was. When she was with her, it seemed oddly relaxing and full, whereas Sarah’s just seemed so empty. What was it about them that made it appear that way? It could have been the blinds, or maybe how Mari’s been using this one for weeks, but whatever it was, an unsettled feeling grew in her chest, as though something bad were to approach them— that if something bad _were_ to approach them, her luck would fall flat.

 

Behind her were the uncovered blinds and in front of her was a blank wall. Everywhere she saw was blank, except them.

The only items there were a small box of tissues and an empty bowl. It wasn’t anything like a sign, so she kept on looking.

 

She approached the plugs. There were less cords there than she saw with Mari’s relative, if that was even the right term. That was a good thing, right?

Nonetheless she peered inside to find a completely unaffected opening. No purple spots, no dents, nothing.

 

“Hey, Leah, is there anything wrong about this room you noticed?”

 

“No. There’s not much around here besides this.”

 

“Hm… what a pain. If there was more this would be a lot easier.”

 

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong though. If there’s something from the fog it’d probably just be my sister you have to worry about.”

 

“I wasn’t worried about her though, but if it’s not the room… how much longer will you be staying here?”

 

“Perhaps just a little longer, to get things sorted out. I doubt much worse will happen so we should be alright, hopefully.”

 

_Hopefully?_

* * *

A while passed of Yoshiko staying by them, as they talked amongst themselves and left her to her own. But after a while, Sarah began to look more assured. In a while she should be able to do the things she used to as well.

 

“How are you feeling now? Anything you need before we head out?”

Leah laid her hand onto the empty desk and glanced at her from above.

 

Sarah adamantly replied, “I’m alright, don’t worry.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“Shouldn’t you believe in your _big sister_ more?”

 

“Alright. Once we get home though there’s still a lot we have to do, with getting us to business and all.”

Leah looked up in thought and added on.

“I forgot to tell you, when we were home back then we would work as maids part-time, so we’ll have to go through the steps again.”

 

“Is that so?”

Sarah took herself off her wrapped blanket and sat down on the bed’s corner.

“Well, that still won’t change anything to me. If I can learn it once, I can learn it again.”

She stepped down once she saw Leah moving to Yoshiko’s side.

 

“Are you ready?”

 

Yoshiko pointed at herself as a gut response.

“Me? I-I’m fine!”

 

They passed the bed to the door as Leah unlocked it… and there was a cat.

A cat?

 

It had beady eyes and black fur, and it hissed at them. Leah tried to shoo it away and it worked for a while, yet when they moved away it only followed them across the hall. Did it have something to do with them? What was so important anyway? Whenever Yoshiko saw a cat, it would run away when she got close, so why was this one so different?

She moved away from them and to the cat and started patting its head.

 

Leah responded, “Yoshiko-san? Why don’t you just ignore it? If we move far away enough it’ll give up.”

 

“Yeah, but if a cat is following us we should see what’s up with it.”

She continued to rub across it when she noticed a dark purple collar on its neck.

“For what we know this cat might be onto us!”

 

“What even made you believe it would be that evil anyway?”

 

“You see, there’s this purple collar on it which looks just like the fog, and if it was on this floor it could have noticed it too!”

 

Yoshiko saw Leah kneel down next to her as she sighed, “Out of all the things I could do for you it had to be this, huh.”

Sarah followed her too, of course, but stayed behind her.

 

Leah tightly held the metal tag hanging off the collar. It had some text in a mysterious language, looking as though it were made up. The cat hesitated but still stayed just as calm as before.

 

“Hey, Leah, you know anything about cats?”

 

“I don’t have any experience. The closest I’ve got was being compared to a cat, but I don’t think that counts.”

 

“Then don’t worry, I’m desperate here. Just work your cat-telepathy powers a little.”

 

“Cat-telepathy…” Leah muttered.

 

Leah kept holding the tag for support as she stroked the cat from front to back with her other hand.

 

“Like this?”

 

“Sounds good to me. If that won’t make it go away, nothing will.”

 

Leah let go and got up.

“I think that’ll be fine enough?”

 

Yoshiko glanced at her and stood with her

“Yeah, I think so too. It shouldn’t be that hard.”

 

They and Sarah carried on and quickly walked to the end of the hallway. Like this, surely it wouldn’t notice them leave.

Soon after that, they slowed down and continued to gradually walk at their usual pace.

* * *

The cycle circled through between walking and more walking. It was just the same as before, until they arrived at Mari’s room. It was their final destination.

Yoshiko knocked on the door, as she did the last time she came. Mari unlocked and opened it for her.

 

“Geez, what took you so long? Whatever it was, there’s still lots of space here, so come in already.”

 

“I was the one doing you the favor, but alright?” Yoshiko retorted.

 

Leah grimaced, “You haven’t changed once…”

 

They followed Yoshiko to the corner of the with the chairs and sat down.

 

“So, what brings you guys here?”

The blonde sat opposite to them.

 

“I thought I’d share what happened earlier.”

 

“Oh really~? Then what was it?”

 

Yoshiko gestured her hand over to Leah.

 

“...fine,” she scoffed, before explaining, “After I got in, my sister woke up and told me she lost her memories. I was explaining the basics when Yoshiko-san came in and asked if there were any signs of the fog. She didn’t believe me when I said there was nothing, but there really was.”

 

“So she’s an amnesiac? I would’ve never thought the fog was that strong.”

 

“I wouldn’t have thought so either, but here we are, Mari-san.”

 

Sarah asked, “Actually, I heard a little about the fog earlier. What was it like?”

 

“Um… if you looked outside and saw a purple thing, that’s the fog. It made a bunch of people sick, so we’re finding out why it’s here!” Mari answered.

 

“Is there any specifics you’re looking for? I can try to help too if you’d like.”

 

“Wow~, that would be great! Anything’s fine with me though.”

Mari chuckled as she charismatically smiled.

 

Yoshiko turned to her.

“How about if I told you about this cat we found while we walked over here? Leah said I was crazy when I told her, but I still think it’s behind this!”

 

“A cat? What would a cat have anything to do with this?”

 

“I noticed this collar on it that had the same color of the fog, but even then it looks suspicious, you know?”

 

“So it looks suspicious, huh. Sounds pretty interesting~ what if we take a look?”

 

Leah interjected, “Wait, don’t! That girl’s crazy!”

 

“Come on, might as well take the chance, right?”

 

“It sounds fine to me at least,” Sarah mentioned.

 

“Seriously? I guess it would be alright.”

Leah side-eyed Mari. Sarah was her one weakness, after all.

 

On the bed was the young girl, still resting peacefully. Mari wrote a note explaining what to do if she awoke and stuck it onto the side.

They stepped out to search for the kitten. No matter how long it would take, they would look for them.

 

Mari recklessly swung the door open for the others. It slammed on the wall loudly, but luckily from what she could see no one woke up from it.

Yoshiko led Mari and the others through the hall’s wide pathway. She kept a close eye on every crack, as she thought it would have its eyes solely on them. Even then, cats were still a mystery to her.

 

_Meow~_

 

It must’ve heard their footsteps across the halls. The sound was so distant she could barely pick it out from the faint buzzing coming out of the hospital rooms, but if it really were true…

 

“Meow~?”

Mari asked.

“That was the cat you were talking about, right, Yoshiko-chan?”

 

“It’s Yohane!” she blurted.

“But yeah, that’s the one.”

 

“We must be getting closer then! Where do you think it is?”

 

“It sounded a little like it was to the right?”

She turned to the ‘cat-whisperer’ herself.

 

Leah blushed as she said, “That sounds right enough.”

Yoshiko thought that at that moment, if she was wearing some cute cat ears she’d look just perfect as her partner in crime...

And as partners in crime, they followed the noise to the other end of the hallway.

Mari stomped on the floor to test for a reaction.

 

_Meow?_

 

Again, it meowed. She heard it more closely this time around though, as if they were getting closer. They hurried now that they could sense it.

They took the stars down to the first floor and ran, since were no rooms in sight.

 

A black shadow passed. This was it!

It jumped onto a chair in the lobby and laid down.

 

“Now, who should go in?” Sarah whispered.

 

Mari turned to her and examined the cat.

“Hm… who’s the best at being sneaky? That’d help our chances.”

 

“How about you?”

 

“I can’t say I’ve ever tried it, but it sounds fun! What do you think?”

 

“I think you’ll do alright.”

Sarah left a small shrug.

 

“You think so~? I’ll do my best for ‘ya then.”

 

Mari approached the entrance of the lobby, a short distance away from where everyone else stood. She examined the surroundings before slowly creeping to the chair where the cat laid down. It was resting so peacefully, she just had to be more careful than usual to not disturb it.

Her hands spread out behind and moved about an inch away before attempting to remove its collar. It looked like no problem to her. After all, it was on the side where the ends of the collar met, so it appeared to be a convenience for her.

 

_1… 2…_

_Click!_

 

The sound from the collar was so high pitched she questioned whether the cat awoke, but she unclasped and pulled it out. It dropped to the ground, and Mari stood up and she picked it up. She returned to the exit of the lobby to where Yoshiko and the others were.

 

“You had pretty good luck there.” Yoshiko smirked and nudged her.

 

“Right~? Who would’ve expected that?”

 

A bright purple crystal hung onto a black leather string with two metal edges. It was a completely normal collar, so if it weren’t that, why was that cat acting so unusually? There was something else going on for sure. Either that or that jewel has a cursed material left inside, like it was a possessed spirit.

 

“Hm…”

 

“Yoshiko-chan?”

 

“It’s nothing, I was just thinking.”

 

“Thinking… I’ve been doing that too.”

 

“You have?”

 

“Yep! Aren’t we all?”

 

“You’re not wrong.”

Yoshiko thought of the crystal more. What was it that made her feel so wary? That uneasy feeling came out of nowhere.

 

“If we have that collar, what else can we do?” Leah asked.

 

Sarah let go from the wall and got closer to the rest of them.

“We’d be best taking it in for a look later. It’s so late that we‘d be better off back home.”

 

“It is? Last time I checked it was pretty early.”

 

Sarah turned to the window. The fog seemed to clear up a bit from before.

“That was then, this is now. Take a look if you don’t believe me.”

 

“Ah, that’s true.”

Leah paused.

“Actually, Mari-san, are you going to stay in tonight?”

 

“Yeah, since that machine’s been acting strange I can’t exactly go out much. I won’t mind if you guys go without me though.”

 

“Thanks. And if you need anything, you already know Yoshiko would be glad to help.”

 

“Hey, come on!—she’s not wrong though.”

 

“Aww. I’ll get going now, but thanks for coming by!”

 

They exchanged their farewells and Mari returned to her and her cousin’s room.

Yoshiko, Leah, and Sarah then exited the hospital at last and discussed what they would do next as they walked away.

 

“So, where are you heading? You’re still living in Hakodate, right?” Yoshiko asked in curiosity.

 

Leah answered, “Yeah. It’s a while away from here so once we get out of here I’ll probably call my aunt and take us two back home.”

 

“Well at least you guys won’t have to walk? Hopefully the wait won’t be too long though.”

 

“Me too. Will you go back home too?”

 

“Well, not yet. There’s still something I need to do?”

 

“Really? What is it?”

 

“I’m not sure. But it’d be a crime if I didn’t.”

She would never admit she wanted to check up on her ‘enemies’. She had a reputation to keep up, yet something about not properly saying goodbye to them didn’t feel right. But of course that was only if they still waited this long.

 

“I see.”

 

They arrived at an intersection in the road.

Once they stood still, Leah said, “This is where we’ll be headed now. Will you be going the other way?”

 

“I think? If you’re going the opposite way we’d be leaving for now.”

 

“I guess so. Ehm, thank you for not pushing me aside today. I appreciate your help.”

 

Leah’s confession swept Yoshiko’s heart. She was prepared for this to happen, yet having it come from her was unreal. Yoshiko could barely think of anything to say, yet—

“Y-You thought so? I-It’s nothing really, the least I can do! The next time we meet I’ll repay it, I swear!”

She shook her head down embarrassedly, barely able to muster anything else.

“Bye, Leah. And thank you too.”

 

Soon after Sarah told her bye as well, they turned left and headed their own way home.

* * *

Ikesuya. Yoshiko finally got there to see no one else but herself there. Everything looked the same, but Chika and You surely left by now.

Though as the sky was so dark, what time was it anyway? Sarah mentioned it before, but she never checked for herself.

 

11:34.

 

No wonder she didn’t see them. What she did see, however, was even better.

When searching the area, she couldn’t find any of the purple fog that used to lurk in the corners.

Could it be that they disappeared?

Did removing that collar stop that curse, if it even was one?

For once it seemed like her luck treated her kindly. After all this time, she didn’t feel the urge to blame it on her fallen angel self.

 

She had no idea what potential the jewel had inside… but for now, the sky was clear again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter coming to a close I’d like to thank everyone for reading this work! Initially I planned for it to run for longer, but due to several reasons I decided to leave it at a point where it can shine most, which would be here.  
> (P.S. for anyone wondering, Chika does become a Rider, it just happened later on)  
> I’m really grateful to everyone who’s read from the beginning to now, and I hope the other works I have can shine as well☆


End file.
